Select Page
Happy Mother’s Day Month!

Happy Mother’s Day Month!

by | May 2, 2021 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

This month we have decided to celebrate our mommas. Let me be the first to say that the three of us here at OneBlessedMomma.com have some amazing mommas!

I would like to introduce you to my momma, Melannie. By many people’s standards she became a momma at a young age,19. Her first child was born on October 4, 1981 and had her pacing the floors every evening for at least 6 months.

A Miracle?

After having so much trouble with her first born, she says it’s a miracle she had any more children. So when the biggest blessing of her life (me 😜) came just 20 months later, and completely disrupted the schedule she had FINALLY established with her first baby she once again rose to the challenge. She now had one child who slept from 10-10 and another who slept from 5-5. Sorry mom.

By the time she was 26 she had 4 young children – 2 boys and 2 girls – the perfect little family. Before becoming a mom, this may sound fantastic, 4 young children relatively close in age. However, I’m guessing most of you who are moms are cringing at the thought. You know the struggles that come along with those blessings.

How do you do it?

I can’t imagine having 4 small children! When I had 2 babies and 1-3 older kids (we’re a blended family so the number depends on the day), I asked her how she did it? She assured me it was only with the help of her momma and sister. I have been blessed to be surrounded by amazing women who have supported me on my motherhood journey. First my momma, aunts, grandmothers, and even my great-grandmothers, and special women in my church families. 

When her youngest was 17 months old she moved 900 miles away from her family and her in-laws to a new place where she knew no one.

A great lesson

One thing I’ve learned from my mom, from my parents, is that family is not just those related through blood. When we moved to Texas in 1990 we made great friends who took us in as family. One friend insisted on teaching us kids to swim in her pool and then taking mom and us to Galveston for our first beach trip. We spent Sunday afternoons playing softball with neighbors in the pasture behind our house.

Mom was always ready for someone to drop by un-announced. This is something I wish I could claim! I guess that lesson didn’t stick, oops! Mom is known for her amazing cookies, delicious ice cream and amazing pizza. Friends have told her she should open a pizza and ice cream shop.

I remember her attending a field trip with me and being so proud when a friend’s mom asked for tips on how to make her amazing cookies.

My mom worked from home until I was 14. She was always very present throughout my childhood. She attended field trips, was a PTA mom, and showed up to school for special ceremonies. This is us at my 8th grade graduation.

When the children become adults

Now that I am a mom, I always wonder, “what would my mom do?” And when the answer isn’t in my head I pick up the phone and call her.

What do I do for my puking kid?

What do I do for that horrible smell after the kid has puked everywhere?

How do I clean up this mold that suddenly appeared? Yuck!

Can you give me that favorite recipe, again? (I promise to put it in my new recipe box this time)

This kid is driving me crazy! when do they stop being so needy and stop asking a million questions? (Oh what’s that, your 37-year-old daughter is still needy and still calls to ask a million questions 🙂 Sorry, mom!)

I have one adult child now and can attest that it changes things.

My goals

My mom and I are great friends, before I moved 2000 miles away, we enjoyed grocery shopping together, processing apples, so many other activities. Now that I have moved, our time together mostly consists of periodic phone calls. Some weeks we talk daily, other times 2 weeks will pass by before we can find a mutually available time.

One of my goals is to be able to be friends with my adult children just as my mom is. It is hard to see that future when I am in the middle of a period where my kids need for guidance, structure, and discipline are more important than my friendship. I hope as they grow, they will always know I am here for them and they can depend on me just as much as I depend on my momma. As they move on from my home, I hope I get the phone calls when adulting seems too hard, when they need “mom” advice. I could just go to Google or Pinterest to find the answers to many of my queries, but I am so grateful that I can pick up the phone and call my mom.

I have several friends who don’t have that blessing, some have missed their mom for years, others this will be their first Mother’s Day without their momma. My heart goes out to each of you, I can’t possibly imagine the pain you are going through on this holiday as well as in the daily moments when you may wish you could just pick up the phone and ask your mom a question or receive assurance from her.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family and has spent much time trying to learn how to "mom". She's still not perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

Celebrating Christ on Easter

Celebrating Christ on Easter

by | Mar 28, 2021 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

What do you celebrate on Easter Sunday? Or do you celebrate at all? Celebrating Easter and Christmas as Christians can be controversial. Even if you polled the three of us on this blog, I’m guessing you would get three different answers.

Do you celebrate the bunny that brings a basket full of goodies? Or a savior who came to earth, lived a perfect life and then allowed himself to be our perfect sacrifice?

From 2015 through 2019 we were attending a children’s Christian leadership conference (L2L) on Thursday through Sunday of Easter weekend.

This meant I didn’t worry about Easter celebrations at all. Our kids were 1, 10, 11, and 14 years old; they were either too young to care or old enough to not really care. We may not have been focused on Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, but we were definitely focused on our Christian walk.

Fast forward to 2020 when the world came to a halt, and suddenly we would be home for Easter and we had decisions to make.

2020 was a thrown-together afterthought, seriously my husband went shopping the night before to pick up a few things for each kid.

This year I have planned a few things to do with them over the week to make sure they understand the resurrection of Jesus, and why we need Him.

I have attempted to sort the activities to correspond with the activities in the last week before Jesus’ crucifixion. However, I am a firm believer in doing things in a way that works for your family. Don’t feel like you have to do everything on the list or nothing at all. And if Sunday’s activity doesn’t get done until Friday it doesn’t make it any less valuable to your children. 

Any time we can maintain their focus on our savior and what he has done for us is the perfect time to do the activity.

A plan

Sunday Jesus arrives in Jerusalem on a donkey
Matthew 21:1-11

Monday Cleansing the temple
Mark 11:15-19

Tuesday Judas speaks to chief priests
Matthew 26:14-16

Wednesday Easter Eggs

Thursday Jesus washes his disciples’ feet
John 13:1-20

Friday Jesus’ trials begin
John 18:19-24

Saturday Jesus is in the tomb
Matthew 27:27-66

Sunday Jesus has risen!
Matthew 28

Supplies needed:

Sunday

Jesus arrives in Jerusalem on a donkey.

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Matthew 21:1-11 ESV

View full directions at http://www.freefuneaster.com/easter-crafts/clothespin-donkey-craft/

Supplies needed:

Monday

Jesus cleanses the temple.

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Matthew 21:12-13 ESV

Read the account of Jesus cleansing the temple with your children.

Then have them build and destroy a temple from blocks, or cardboard, or couch cushions.

Just before they knock their building over, review why Jesus was upset.

Supplies needed:

  • Child(ren)
  • Something to build with, cardboard, couch cushions, pillows, blocks, dominos, etc. Let your kids use their imaginations, if they’re anything like mine they’ll figure it out!

Tuesday

Judas speaks to the chief priests.

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

Matthew 26:14-16 ESV

Discuss betrayal with your kids.

  • What is betrayal?
  • Have you ever experienced a friend turning their back on you?
  • Have you ever betrayed someone’s trust?
  • How does betrayal make the person feel?

I found this great felt bag and coins craft, I wish I would have found it earlier on. They suggest having your kids return a silver coin for each good act they do (over lent), with the goal of returning all 30 coins of betrayal before Easter.
Click here for full instructions.

Supplies needed:

Wednesday

The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened on this day. So I am planning an Easter egg activity. Bonus, my kids loved creating these with me and have declared them dinosaur and dragon eggs, so they will be happy to use them far past easter.

Anybody else have tons of cardboard boxes at their house waiting to be recycled or reinvented?

I follow @miami_skye on Instagram. I attempted to create her egg craft, but I have a history of ignoring instructions. Sshhhh, don’t tell 🙂 so mine are a little different.

Because my kids declared them dinosaur and dragon eggs, I made a printable with 3 options, chicks, dinos, or dragons. I have three kids who are working on numbers in some capacity, so I printed all 3 and then “laminated” them with packaging tape.

My kids have loved matching their dinos, dragons, and chicks to their eggs.

 

Supplies needed:

Click the image to watch her video. Her Instagram is full of great ideas for reusing cardboard with your children.

Thursday

Jesus washes his disciples feet
John 13:1-20

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

John 13:1-20 ESV

Discuss servant attitude with your children.

  • What does it mean to be a servant?
  • How does it make you feel when someone serves you?
  • How would it feel to serve someone you know has betrayed you?
  • Who can we serve in our lives?

As the days get warmer, my children are running around with no shoes. I feel like this is the perfect time to teach them this story, along with it being the week before Easter. Jesus showed his servant attitude by washing the stinky, dirty feet of men who traveled by foot over dirt roads in sandals. Not to mention the fact that he also washed the dirty stinky feet of the man, the friend, who betrayed him.

Have your children take turns being the servant and the served. My children definitely need a little encouragement to wash each other’s feet.

Supplies needed:

  • Plastic wash bin or other suitable container
  • soap
  • water
  • towel(s) or washcloth(s)
  • dirty feet
  • children with a developing servant attitude

Friday

Friday Jesus’ trials begin

So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

John 18:12-24 ESV

I would challenge you to read the entire chapter of John 18. There is so much to unpack here and only you know where your kids are in maturity.

I am declaring Friday night movie night at our house. There are so many movies out there that depict the life and death of Christ.

You will need to pick one that suits your children’s maturity and age. Here are a couple choices, I would love to hear your favorites.

Read and Share Bible – Easter My children were very attentive to this 30 minute depiction of Jesus’ last week before his crucifixion.

Passion of the Christ this is obviously one for the parents and possibly older children.

Saturday

Saturday Jesus is in the tomb
Matthew 27:27-66

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Jesus has died on the cross for my sins and yours. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Jesus was sent here so that no one should perish but all can have everlasting life. John 3:16

Through repentance and baptism, all of our sins can be washed away, and we can spend eternal life with our heavenly Father and our Savior. Acts 2:38

I found this great object lesson to teach baptism washes our sins away.

Supplies needed:

  • Plastic wash bin or other suitable container (you could use the same bin from Thursday)
  • Paper towel (one for a demonstration or 1 per child participating, I like to let my kids be hands-on I know I learn more if I am personally participating.)
  • 1 black permanent marker
  • Washable markers
  • Water

Sunday

Jesus has risen!
Matthew 28

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. nd for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ut the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Give your child an egg that is empty except a piece of gauze. Make sure it has something in it so they don’t think you just messed up 🙂 Remind them that when Jesus’ friends went to the tomb Sunday morning, he was not there, only the linens remained.

I plan to use a special egg, by size or color or both, for their empty egg and we will set aside a time to open it up so that it is special. 

Supplies needed:

  • 1 egg per child
  • 1 piece of gauze per child

The best news ever…

Jesus was born, sacrificed for us on a cross, and then rose from the dead. If you have not read and obeyed the gospels I can’t encourage you enough to do just that. 

The book of Mark is the shortest gospel and may be a great place to start. There are Bible apps that you can read and that you can listen to. Please get to know Jesus my Lord.

Here is a quick resource about God’s plan of salvation. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us here.

The World Bible School is a great resource for studying the Bible. You can study at your own pace and are assigned a teacher. 

As Amazon Associates, we earn commissions from qualifying purchases. This costs you nothing additional but helps us to maintain our website. Thank you for your support. 

Download your free printable

Cardboard eggs craft templates and inserts. 
.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family and has spent much time trying to learn how to "mom". She's still not perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

But without love…

But without love…

by | Feb 1, 2021 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

Welcome to February, the month of love. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that without love we are but a clanging cymbal, we are nothing, and we gain nothing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a clanging cymbal! I want to gain something for the work I put in, even if it’s not here on earth but is a heavenly reward. (Does this make me selfish?)

Do you serve others?

I have been contemplating this a lot in the context of serving. Are you a servant? Do you naturally see the ways people need to be served and then jump in and serve them? I have to say, this is a struggle for me. I tend to stay so wrapped up in my own “survival” that I don’t notice how I might serve those around me. All too often, I realize after the fact, I coulda, shoulda.

I have been blessed to help a few people out and I always am grateful for that blessing. I believe God has used these circumstances to further mold and shape me.

I don’t know about you, but I prefer the molding and shaping that occurs through service to others over the hard life lessons when I’m too stubborn to pay attention to the gentle lessons God is trying to teach me 😊

Jesus – God or Servant?

 

Philippians 2 tells us he is both God and servant.

though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Philippians 2:6-7

Jesus served the people he was surrounded by. In the gospels (Mark 6 and Mark 8) it is recorded that Jesus fed first 5,000 and then 4,000. They came to him. They followed him for 3 days and Jesus did not want to send them home hungry. The disciples told Jesus to send them away so they could get food. Jesus said no, we’ll feed them (I’m paraphrasing here).

John 13 finds Jesus serving his disciples by washing their feet. I don’t know about you, but to me this is a BIG deal. 12 men, wearing sandals, travel mode of walking, on dusty roads. I’m not looking to get anywhere near those stinky smelly feet! But our Lord and Savior did. He could have taken the role of an earthly king with all of its perks, but that’s not why he was here. What a great example of servanthood he is for us!

For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

Luke 22:27

A Servant Heart

As mommas, wives, sisters, and friends we are constantly given opportunities to serve those around us. My prayer is that I will be aware of the opportunities God is giving me.

I have been surrounded by servant-hearted people my entire life. My mom, grandparents, and aunts have all been wonderful examples to me. My husband is also very much a servant. He will do anything for anyone. I am grateful for these people in my life who show me how to be more Christlike.

When you serve others, are you serving them with love and joy? Or are you complaining the whole time about how hard or stressful it is? Or how stinky their feet are? I don’t think I have to point out which attitude is the right attitude 😊 I know I have been guilty of serving in misery rather than in love. For me, this is something that takes a lot of self-talk. I have to remind myself that I want to serve the people and that I want to serve God. Serving others is something we have tried to model for our children and involve our children in.

Involve your children

How can you involve your kids?

  • Take them with you to serve
  • Let them know why you are serving.
    Why does this person need help?
    Were they just in the hospital?
    Do they have a new baby?
    Was there a death in their family?
    This can open up so many important conversations with our children!
  • Have them help with a menu and preparing food
  • Have them help shop, explain why you are buying some things. Equip your children with the knowledge so that they can duplicate the process on their own as adults.
  • Don’t forget to show them the joy and love going into the process! If we aren’t doing it because of love then why are we?

Over the last week, we were blessed to be able to help in 3 different ways. All of my kids helped to make food and load it in the van and we kept talking about the precious new baby that we were taking food to (ok we were going to see the new precious baby and take food to her momma and daddy and big brother).

In a 3rd way we helped, my 7-year-old learned some things I may have not been quite ready for him to learn about the harsh realities of life. However, I know that it will serve him as he learns to have empathy for others.

There are people hurting all around us, all we have to do is be open enough to see those people and pray to God for the wisdom, strength, means, and courage to help others. A man we were blessed to help, shared with us that his late wife always said, “I may help someone who doesn’t need it, but that’s between them and God. If I quit helping people because of that person who didn’t need it, then what about the 4 or 5 who did need it and I turned them away?”

 

We have been blessed by the service of others!

I have had 4 babies, and with each baby, we were blessed by waves of food from family and friends.

Last June I was in the hospital for a couple of days and we were surrounded by the love of church family. They picked up our children and fed them, and brought us food after I was out of the hospital. Even making special food for me because I couldn’t swallow. 

As important as it is to model servanthood to our children, it is also important to model gratitude. We were grateful to the people who brought us food and now we get to pass that on to others. 

We have all been given spiritual gifts. Some are stronger in servanthood than others. Some are more evangelical than others, etc. If you don’t know your spiritual gifts I would recommend taking this test and reading Spiritual Giftedness. This book helps you understand how to develop and use them.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family and has spent much time trying to learn how to "mom". She's still not perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

by | Jan 3, 2021 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Some are life-altering, some are inconsequential and most are somewhere in between. How many decisions have you made today?
When to get up? How many times to hit the snooze button? What clothes to wear? Whether to get dressed at all? Sometimes we don’t even realize the decisions we’ve made.  Sometimes we feel out of control of our lives, but all we need to do is take back some of these decisions we haven’t been actively making.

 

What are some decisions you need to quit making while on auto-pilot?

There are 5 steps to making a decision:

  • Presented with a choice
  • Make the decision
  • Evaluate
  • The aftermath
  • Move on

Some decisions are quick and you don’t even realize you are moving through the steps.

1. Alarm goes off- you have a choice to make.
2. Do you turn it off and get up or hit snooze?
3. Evaluate – did you make the right choice? Or do you have regrets?
4. The aftermath – Your day is off to a good start at the time you’ve planned OR you hit snooze too many times and now you’re 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour behind?
5. Move on – are you wallowing in the mess you’ve made or are you making the best of it and doing the next right thing?

Some decisions are much more complicated and each step will take some time. Hours, days, weeks…

What job to take? Will you work? Where to live? How many kids to have?

Faced with a choice

There are daily choices we have to make. There are bigger life-altering decisions we have to make. Sometimes it’s clear we have a choice to make and sometimes we have been on auto-pilot for so long we don’t realize there are choices we can make.

If you’ve been on auto-pilot or in “survival mode” for so long you are oblivious to the choices you’re not making, this is your nudge to take a look at the things you can take control of. You may be surprised at how actively making a few decisions gives you new energy for life.

If you are a momma who understands just how daunting some of the daily decisions are, please know you are not alone. Know you don’t have to stay in this hard place, but you do have to take steps to get out (baby steps count). I would recommend finding a friend to cheer you on and pray with you.

If you’ve been in survival mode for so long you don’t know who to reach out to, you can reach out to me. How can I pray for you? What small steps or accomplishments can I celebrate with you? Did you put on your cleanest pair of dirty pants instead of staying in jammies? Amazing!

Make a choice

I was just told that George Washington has made more decisions since being on the coin than when he was alive (coin flip). Some decisions can be made with a coin flip, even if it’s just showing you which choice you really want. Some choices are a little more challenging.

If you assign an option to heads and an option to tails, then flip the coin you’ve made a choice. Now you probably don’t want to make major life decisions this way. However, sometimes the coinflip can help you realize which option you actually want.

If you land on heads but realize you really wanted tails, well then you’ve still made a decision. You now know which one you actually want. I learned this trick from Valerie Young.

For more in-depth, large decisions other methods may be necessary. Our pros and cons are shaped by our world view and moral standards, as Christians, this means we should be relying on the Bible and prayer. Does the Bible tell us which job to take? Or which house to buy? No, but it can help us set the priorities that help us determine which job or house will fit our lives the best.

Evaluate

Now that the decision has been made, was it the right one? They say hindsight is 20/20. How will you decide if you made the right decision? Do you go back to your pros and cons list?

The Aftermath

If you made a good decision, this is the easy part. CELEBRATE!

Unfortunately, if your decision was not right this is when it starts to get tough. I would encourage you to take a breath. Say a prayer.

Who else was affected?

Are you the only one affected by this decision? Unfortunately, you generally aren’t, so identify those other people.

Make amends

It is so important to acknowledge how people have been affected by our choices and then apologize or otherwise make it right.

Assess

How did things go wrong? What do you need to do to make it right?

Move on

There is always another decision to make, so we have to move on. Don’t let the last decision determine the next. Make sure you are doing the next right thing.

You are not allowed to wallow in the misery which was created by the last decision 🙂 I said so LOL

I always use the analogy of the potty training toddler who decides to poop their pants, remembers “oh yeah I’m not in diapers anymore.” and then hides so they aren’t found out. They’ve already made the mess, but instead of going to mom or dad for help they just sit in it. What does that do? It makes the mess bigger and possibly more painful. Don’t be a poopy pants toddler. Acknowledge what you’ve done, clean up the mess (get help if you need it), and be more conscious of your future decisions.

That’s what making good choices comes down to. You have to be conscious of the choices you’re making. Each choice you make has to be held to a standard. As a Christian, my standard is the Bible. However, some decisions are beyond what is actually in the Bible, but the standards for life are there.

I have recently made some life changes (and continue to take steps to make more) because I realized I am not the mom or wife I planned on being. Some things by Biblical standards and some just my own standards. We are all flawed humans on a journey. Make sure to offer grace and mercy to all of the others on this journey with you.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family and has spent much time trying to learn how to "mom". She's still not perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

4 tips to avoid stress, guilt, and overwhelm this Christmas season

4 tips to avoid stress, guilt, and overwhelm this Christmas season

by | Dec 7, 2020 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

One blessed momma, that’s me! However, that doesn’t mean I’m never one stressed-out momma, one-guilt-filled momma, or one overwhelmed momma. As we’ve just come through one holiday and are headed towards a jampacked holiday season, the stressed-out, guilt-filled, overwhelmed parts of me are threatening to take over. 

Long-term stress prevention and management can reduce your chance of developing additional disorders such as heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and depression. Several studies have found that cannabis can assist people cope with stress. However, cannabis’s anti-stress and anti-anxiety qualities may be most effective when microdosed. Because cannabinoids have biphasic effects, substances like THC can reduce anxiety in low dosages while increasing anxiety in greater ones. To learn more see this ne post about the Process for Getting a Medical Marijuana Card in Oklahoma.

Several studies have found that cannabis can assist people cope with stress. However, cannabis’s anti-stress and anti-anxiety qualities may be most effective when microdosed. Because cannabinoids have biphasic effects, substances like THC can reduce anxiety in low dosages while increasing anxiety in greater ones.

This year will be different than most. Covid-19 is the uninvited guest in every aspect of our lives. As we plan our holiday celebrations do we leave behind all of our usual parties? Do we say, “better safe than sorry”? Or do we take hold of our lives and refuse to live in fear? Carrying on as though nothing has changed.

This is a very hot topic in all circles of friends and family and politics. Since it is everywhere we look, it is also affecting our motherhood. But isn’t there always something that could be affecting our motherhood? Sometimes it is coming from outside sources and sometimes it is from within our own family.

Here are four things I plan to use to leave the stress, guilt, and overwhelm behind as we finish out 2020.

1. Prayer and Supplication

“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:6

Suppli… what? Supplication. Maybe you’re smarter than me, but I realized as I was writing this that I didn’t really know what supplication meant. So I’ll define it here in case you’re in the same boat as me.

Supplication – the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly.

If we take everything to God in humble prayer, and then leave it there, do not play tug-of-war with him, he will take care of the rest.

I have found that if I pour all of my jumbled up messy thoughts out to God, for me in the method of prayer journaling, I am then able to actually think more clearly and make better judgments.

One example, is when my friend Julia‘s baby was in the NICU, I have a lot of guilt and mental fog around mommas with difficult pregnancies/miscarriages/preterm births. (Something I should totally give over to God, I’m a work in progress.)

I knew Julia was hurting and needed to be surrounded by the love of God and friends, but all I could see was my guilt. Finally, I sat down and prayed and wrote and prayed. Once it was all out I could pray for Julia and Nora and ask God to help me find things she needed as I was shopping. I was able to get things that later she told me she didn’t even know she needed yet. Was that me? Nope! It was definitely God working through me.

As you think of the upcoming holidays, don’t do what your jumbled up, stressed out, overwhelmed self thinks. Give all of that to God and then ask for direction. Most importantly, pay attention to his direction. Philippians 4:6 starts out “do not be anxious about anything.“ Anytime you find your anxiety rising use natural treatments, there are medical marijuana in Las Vegas to start a natural treatment that has proven benefits to help with anxiety.

2. Gratitude

Philippians 4:6-7 continues Paul’s directions, with thanksgiving. That prayer you just prayed, did it include thanksgiving to God? What has God done in your life? Are you giving credit where credit is due? When we do things for our children do we not expect and even demand their p’s and q’s? Their please and thank you? We should be training them to say please and thank you, but are we modeling gratefulness to our heavenly father for them?

This direction comes with a promise in verse seven, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” What a wonderful blessing that peace is. I would love to hear about a time that prayer led you to a peace that you know could only come from God.

3. Plan

This year will be different for everyone. You aren’t going to be able to pull last year’s plans and just replicate unless of course, you are a homebody who is used to social distancing and staying away from everyone else.

Maybe this is the year to simplify and get back to the basics of what Christmas is really about? Get back to the central idea and make sure our plans focus there. As you plan, remember to expect the unexpected as Julia told us. God even tells us in James 4:13 that we shouldn’t say tomorrow I will do this or that because we are not promised tomorrow. Instead, we should say “if the Lord wills, we will do this or that.”

I would suggest that if you have prayed it all out and really listened to God‘s direction, more of your plans (than not) will pan out. This is from me. Not God. 🙂

Scroll down to download this free printable.

4. Grace

Finally, remember Grace. This is one thing I am beginning to learn from both of the ladies who are blogging with me. Mollie did a great job discussing grace here. Julia and I were once walking buddies, back when she only had one precious girl to haul around. One thing that sticks with me (three years later) is her advice to offer myself the same grace in making health changes as I am offered from God in my walk with Christ. This was an epiphany for me. If you don’t give yourself grace, you are more likely to give up altogether. You’ll give into the stress, guilt, and overwhelm.

We can pray, we can show gratitude, and we can plan, but we are all flawed humans. This means we will always need grace! Thankfully we were created by God who is full of mercy and grace. So give yourself some too. And don’t forget to give grace to those around you. We’re all on this flawed human journey together.

May this Christmas season find you leaving the guilt, stress, and overwhelm behind. Don’t forget to pray and then quiet your mind and listen for God’s direction.

I am one blessed Momma!

The top picture is of my 3 oldest decorating our Christmas tree back in 2011. Going to a tree farm to cut down our own tree and then decorating it is one of our favorites. It’s a tradition we won’t be giving up. What are you holding onto this year?

Download your free printable

Christmas Priority Planner
.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family and has spent much time trying to learn how to "mom". She's still not perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family

Work heartily, as for the Lord

Work heartily, as for the Lord

by | Nov 9, 2020 | Melinda, One Blessed Momma

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men

This is the idea I like to put forward when I am encouraging my children to work. Unfortunately, I don’t always remember it myself.

My husband and I come from a long line of farmers/ranchers and entrepreneurs, this means lots of independent hardworking people. This brings a lot of characteristics that we also want to instill into our children.

Some people believe children should be children, there is plenty of time for chores and learning to work later in life.

Others believe that you should be teaching them to do chores from the very beginning. This tends to be where we fall in. Because we are entrepreneurs and self-employed our children are not only learning how to wash dishes and laundry and mow the yard, but they are also learning how to build, how to edit websites, how to work with electricity and plumbing.

Let them work when they want to…

When they are little, they are begging to go to work with daddy. They love getting out of the house and learning how to use power tools. As momma, this can make me nervous, but I trust their daddy.

As they reach their teens, they decide that the work isn’t so fun. It’s too much like work. We haven’t found the trick to making sure they don’t get sick of “constantly working”, if any of you have found the secret, please share

They have learned a work ethic

However, as our older boys have gone out and experienced working with others they have received high praise for their work ethic. We’ve discovered they would much rather work for someone other than mom and dad.

Our oldest started working at a local Dickey’s at the age of 16. The managers constantly praised his hard work and initiative. He is now in the Air Force and has actually thanked us for making him learn things. Most of the guys would come to him to iron, because he knew how. He was pursued for a special job because of the electrical knowledge he received working with dad.

The now 16-year-old is in his second year of a masonry vo-tech program as part of his high school. The teacher puts him in a leadership role, even though there are other boys in the class with seniority, because of his work ethic.

Last spring he was able to participate in the local home builders show. It wasn’t just his Masonry class that was there, the carpentry and horticulture classes also participated. Both teachers complimented him because he took the initiative to help them set up their displays and he was told that he did better work than some of their 3rd years. (The vo-tech is a 3-year program).

The work ethic and working knowledge come from working with dad (and grandpas).

Are you modeling a good work ethic?

One of the hardest parts of teaching our children is making sure our actions are teaching them the same thing as our words. That phrase “easier said than done” is all too true sometimes.

Even as adults, especially when we don’t like our boss or the work in front of us, it is so easy to forget who we are representing! If we allow others to know we are Christians (as we should be) but don’t act in a way that glorifies Him, we are doing our Lord an injustice. 

You may not agree with the way we have chosen to raise our children. The only way to instill a good work ethic may not be to start your kids working (with age appropriate tasks) from the time they are walking.

Our second reason for being entrepreneurs and bringing our children along with us is to spend time with them. Being our own bosses means that, to an extent, we can create our schedules. We can bring our kids to work when it works for us. And sometimes when it doesn’t.

We have chosen to spend Saturdays helping dad finish a job so that we can be together as a family. So that it takes a few hours rather than all day. Then we can go play in the afternoon.

Recently we helped dad finish a job so that we could all go to a birthday party in the afternoon. Dad would have missed out on all the fun had he not had help.

How helpful were the 5-year-old and the 3-year-old at shoveling stone, not very. However, they had fun. They got to use shovels and were shown that when you work together the work gets done faster. They are learning about safety and to be aware of their surroundings. They are learning to help out when only one job is left, we all work as a team. We had a goal, and we met that goal.

I am one blessed momma!

What path have you chosen? Do your kids have chores? Are you teaching them a trade? Why or why not? Please be respectful of all, even if they have a different opinion than you. This space is for encouraging and uplifting.

Meet Melinda!

Melinda is a Christian, a wife, and a mom of 6. She has a blended family and has spent much time trying to learn how to "mom". She's still not perfect, but it makes her that much more grateful for God's grace and mercy in her life.

Learn more about Melinda and her family