“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

1. The gift of Love – Know unconditional love.

“In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” Exodus 15:13

2. The gift of Joy – Thrill your heart and others with His joy! Rap it up!

“Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.” Duet. 16:27-29

3. The gift of Peace – Jesus has promised us peace. Jesus speaks to us and reminds us of this of this truth!

“He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:24-27 Read the rest of this entry »

by Cheryl Moeller

While it’s a nice thought, very polite, and good manners to teach your kids to be thankful, it is not the whole truth. It’s like wishing someone good wishes, when you could be praying for them. It’s like saying a good word, when you could be saying a good word about Jesus. It’s like hoping they get well, when you could be praying and trusting for the Great Physician to heal and comfort them. It’s like standing in the middle of a field and saying thank you for the trees, instead of looking up to heaven and thanking the God and Creator of the Universe for His Creation.

This Thanksgiving, let’s not just teach our children to be thankful, let’s teach them Who to thank.

1. Crown of Thanks. Cut different shapes and colors of leaves out of colored paper. Write on the leaves what you want to thank God for. Tape on the wall, up around the ceiling. Circle the room with a crown of thanks to the Lord this.
Read the rest of this entry »

Mom Humor by Cheryl Moeller

… Your only friends are the clerks at the grocery store and the receptionist at your pediatrician.

… Your dinner consists of leftovers taken off everyone else’s plates.

… You can change a toddler’s diaper while he is doing cartwheels.

… You add baby formula to the mashed potatoes to avoid going to the store for another gallon of milk.

… You spend your birthday money on a kit to remove your own ear wax.

… You have to get up at 3:00 Am to take a hot bath and actually enjoy talking to the floating plastic penguins your daughter left.

… You celebrate finding the last clean diaper like most people celebrate finding a winning lottery ticket.

… You aren’t happy when your husband cleans out the car because you’ve now lost everything you own.

… You do get a night out at a fine restaurant you still try and order spaghettios with meatballs.

… You are happy if someone makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, for you.

… You once lived on your couch for 24 hours without getting up.

… You call your husband, dad, because, well, everyone else in the house does…

… Your kids bounce, off the ceilings, instead of off the walls.

… Your flip flops are both lefties and you can still chase your child down the driveway in less than 3.5 seconds.

… You hear your daughter say, “When I grow up, I want to be a mother, only I’ll think I’ll still comb my hair.”

1. Their husband was still snoring when the contractions were less than a minute apart.

2. The childbirth coach promised the contractions wouldn’t hurt any more than holding an ice cube in her hand. She’s never been able to take ice in her tea, since then.

3. Rather than playing soothing music in the birthing room, her husband listened to ESPN Classics rerun of the 1987 Super Bowl.

4. The doctor decided to play an additional nine holes and ordered the Pictosin drip turned down to one drip per hour. Read the rest of this entry »

by Cheryl Moeller

1. You let the kids play with the water hose — in the living room.

2. Mom and dad are doing full-out cannon ball dives into the community swimming pool — that is, until they ask you to leave.

3. Bedtime is now 7:30 sharp — in the morning.

4. You roasted s’mores with the kids over an open fire last night — that is after the marshmallow catches fire on your stovetop.

5. You make truckloads of lemonade for dinner — using the water from the fire hydrant.

6. You call your friends and tell them you’re calling from seaside at Martha’s “Grape” Vineyard — actually you’re sitting in a 2 foot plastic wading pool, after your son smears grape jelly all over his face.
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You are a Supermom……

…if you peel your kids’ grapes.
…if you do your kids’ laundry, even before they wear their clean clothes.
…if you are way more interested in planning your eight-year-old’s birthday party, than your eight-year-old is.
…if you have to limit yourself to only vacuuming 30x a day.
…if you dilute your kids’ soda pop, worried the bubbles will frighten them.
…if you bake totally organic bread, with absolutely no crust.
…if you have each kid, each day, in over 500 activities. Read the rest of this entry »

As a mother of preschoolers, I fell behind the curve when it comes to technology. While other women were sporting ipod touch, iphones, Blackberries, Blue Tooths, iPhones, and Palm Pilots dangling in their ears, all I could manage was a small spiral notebook from the dollar aisle in Walgreens. However, just to stay in the game I decided to refer to it as my Papyrus Pilot. My Bic ballpoint pen is my Cylinder Inkjet 5000.

These are some of the things that I have put in my Papyrus Pilot. First of all there’s a listing of overdue library notices (now in the thousands of dollars, carrying with them threat of foreclosure on our home); the birthdays of all our relatives that I missed while taking anti-nausea drugs for throwing up during pregnancies; the names of our children (I forgot their names while taking anti-nausea drugs;) what my husband wanted for his birthday 12 years ago that’s still on the list after the last child gets their braces….

Are you wondering what I was doing while you were updating? While other people were updating, I was scraping out the remainder of my mauve lipstick with the cap of my ink pen so I could make it last one more week.

While other people were updating, I was spending an hour walking around the block. That’s how long it took me to walk around the block with preschoolers. Read the rest of this entry »

(Gentle Christian Humor…)

Your roadside stand customers offer to pay you, if you’ll keep your vegetables.
Your pesticide company sprays you instead.

You hire a lawyer, to defend yourself, from the class-action lawsuit the locust file against you.

You’re able to grow more mold in the desert, than veggies in your garden.

You hire the United States Secretary of Agriculture, as a consultant, to get a row of radishes to sprout.

Your heart tells you “yes!”; your knees tell you “no!”

Your weeds are your best friends, not your enemies. (You figure, at least with the weeds, something is growing.) Read the rest of this entry »

(Gentle Christian Humor…)

She publishes a Swedish cookbook that begins with, “Add two pounds of butter, two gallons of cream and a quart of sugar…”

She had the bridesmaids’ wear dresses with wide blue and yellow stripes at her wedding.

She tries to administer coffee and pastry to a man choking in a restaurant.

She asks the grocery store manager where she can find the ice cream with meatballs. Read the rest of this entry »

The MFL (Mom For Laughs) needs to tell the NFL…

* to talk out their issues and problems, instead of shoving, pushing, and tackling out there on the field.

* to stop whispering out there in huddles, it makes the other team feel bad to be talking about them.

* that the real Super Bowl is the white big bowl in the bathroom.

* that the point of wearing a uniform is to help you act more polite and respectful in school. So, why do these men put on uniforms, then start ramming each other and doing crazy dances in the end zone to celebrate it? No one should clap for them when they do either. Read the rest of this entry »