womenNtune

The things that remain deeply engraved in my heart are the things I talk about on this blog all the time The immense importance of my role in my husband's life and that I continue growing into the helper that God wants me to be to him. As a mother that while knowing I cannot do it all; thatmi continue to give attention to the areas of my childrens lives that are most important. Their relationship with God, my relationship with them, and that they are being nurtured and developing in order to fulfill God's purpose for their lives. As a woman that I am being all the woman that God designed me to be. There is a beauty, a gentleness, a confidence, a love for others that God desires me to have and I want to embody that

Whether you believe it or not, every human being on this earth is an eternal being. When we die, we will all be raised up again to eternal life. The question is "Where are you going to end up spending eternity?". Will you be with God because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior or will you be separated from God in a place of torment the bible refers to as "hell". You may not want to believe it, but contrary to popular belief the "truth" is not relative. It will happen whether you believe it or not. I am 100% sure about that. The reason I am even talking about this is because even as "Christians" sometimes we have to be reminded that our life on this earth is a short breadthe compared to the eternity we will spend with god. So don't get so caught up. As you enjoy your life here, remember "This is not all there is."

It has become very clear to me that in our home, the weekends are not for cleaning house but rather for messing up house. So on Monday's the cleanup mission from the weekend starts. I am finally making peace with this fact. The family and I are normally spending time together on the weekends. we relax, we play, we go out, we try to just have fun and enjoy each other. Lifer gets so busy and we do try to keep our time together and with other family members in tact.

My devotional challenged me with 2 things.  1.  The Word of God says that as husband and wife we are to love each other as brothers and sisters in Christ 2.  It asks why some Christians treat other Christians friends outside their home better than the ones in their own homes. Obviously, my husband is much more than my brother in Christ, but I shouldn't let it cancel out that part of our relationship.  I think the marriage part of our relationship can interfere with the "loving like a brother in Christ" part of our relationship.  Obviously it is easier with the people outside our homes because we are not exposed to them in such an intimate way on a daily basis; and they are not exposed to us.  Dealing with the flaws in our spouse and the exposure of our own flaws on a daily basis can be difficult.  But I think this reminder helps.  Maybe I need to figure out how to still keep my love for my husband as a brother in Christ in tact a...

For the last 2 days my devotionals have focused on delegation.  First with Moses and today with the apostles.  As my family is growing and my daughter is getting older, we are getting busier.  As a homemaker I have strengths and weaknesses. I'm not as organized as some people might be.  I'm not able to keep or clean house as efficiently as others.  I do have strengths as a homemaker, but that is not what I'm focused on right now.  I was meditating on this whole thing about delegation that keeps coming up with me lately..  I asked God "Well is there always a way to delegate, and what do you do when you can't delegate. The thing that came to mind was a scenario about a Choir Director.  Lets say there saw a person who knew they were called to be the Choir Director at their church.  They knew they were called to this role and so did everyone else in the church.  However, it was a small church and they did not have anyone to play the piano fo...

Just as I was preparing to try to be super woman and jump into my tasks today, god sends me a reminder in Exodus 18:17,18. Moses's Father-in-law tells him that he is doing to much and it is not good for him. God saw my wheels turning this morning and he knew I was about to take on much more Than I should and it was like he was saying to me "ande I know what you're thinking so let me just stop you right now and tell you that what you are thinking you are going to do today is going to be too much, so just go ahead and slow it down before you even get started". While I believe god appreciated my intentions for the day, I don't think he would appreciate my ignoring his warning.

I pamper my little girl to show her how much I love her.  When she wakes up in the morning, I carry her downstairs with my robe wrapped around her.  Then I snuggle her on the couch and warm her up while we chat for a little while.  Then when I've warmed her up I lay her on the couch with her blanket, turn on her favorite shows and get her some breakfast.  I shower her with love and attention before she gets sent off to school for the day.  At school she experiences a lot of good things but also some difficult things.  She has a little girl that insists on making it clear to Noah that she doesn't like her and is not her friend.  Noah doesn't have to say anything to her or even be near her, the girl will come over to Noah just to badger her.  Noah handles it well, but I can tell it's starting to get to her.  I'm going to talk to the teacher about it, to see what she advises.  Because I am of the believe that kids should be taught that whil...

Proverbs 3:12 - For whom the Lord loves, He corrects, just as a son in whom He delights Hebrews 12:11 - all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who are trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. I believe the above scriptures do not only help us in our parenting but also in our own relationship with our father in heaven. My daughter turned 4 last week, the two main factors in parenting that I have seen yield the best fruit is sharing the word of God with her on a regular basis, through devotionals designed for her age; and the second is disciplining from a place of love. With an emphasis on making sure it comes from a place of love. In my own experiences I have realized that there are some different emotions you can experience as a parent when a child misbehaves. There is anger, there is disappointment, there is grief, and there is also compassion. I believe all these emotions have their place in our relat...

Kids are all wired differently.  Just like adults, they have different strengths and weaknesses.  My daughter Noah loves to be social and interact with others. It is one of her strengths.  But because she is young, one of her weaknesses is not knowing how to reign that in and be content playing by herself.  I've noticed as she gets older it's getting worst.  Noah doesn't know how to slow down and relax and her independent play skills are lagging as well.  So her daddy and I are starting the process not only of teaching her how to relax again but also how to be content playing on her own.  The thing is....... all kids have to learn how to be content with themselves, if not they will become adults that depend on others constantly to entertain and stimulate them.  I know, because I was one of those adults.  Being content to be by yourself and knowing when to slow down and relax is something that has to be taught to some kids.  It's just as ...

I am choosing to laugh. I would like to get on the topic of husbands. Are they not some funny people? Granted I love my husband, he is the most awesome husband in the world to me. There are things that I have kept back from my blog just because I never want to give the wrong idea about him. But he is in fact a man, so any woman who has been married knows what I mean. Men are not that different from Each other. When I was younger people use to tell me I was funny, so I figured why not take a stab at it now. I have gotten so serious since I got married, well wait, lemme just say since I "grew up". Lemme just be honest about my dear, sweet husband. Ok, so I normally get up with Noah at around 7am every morning. I get juice snack, breakfast, etc. Ever so often I need a break from getting up in the morning and having to jump right into action, so I ask hubby to get up with Noah . He so willingly does. Well, this morning was one of those mornings. So I get up later on ...

The heart condition is about the most important thing to God when it comes to His people.  "The Heart Condition".  One might call the "heart condition"  our motives.  Many times as women we get concerned about things getting done.  We have a lot to do right?!!.  Well, not necessarily according to God.  We have created a set of values in our lives and part of them are not God's values.  Is that ok???  I don't know..............................We have the special gifts from the Holy Spirit.   These gifts are different from one believer to the next.   The Holy Spirit also gives us the motivation, inspiration, and energy to pursue those things in our daily lives.  When that inspiration, motivation, and energy are not there it's hard to do certain things.  Back to the "gifts"..................................................I find that you see some people shining ever so brightly in their gifts while others, you just see a flic...

Caramel brûlée latte - the first one I have tried in years that I actually like. Bottoms up! Me time today! I have work waiting for me at home but I really felt the need to go another direction today. At barnes and nobles looking at the folowwing books: "good enough is the new perfect" and " happy chaos" Here is a good quote for moms; "you can do anything-this doesn't mean you have to do everything. How appropriate for today. More random stuff...... I declared that I would absolutely not wear ugg boots this year. But I do miss the convenience of them. But I will resist temptation to get some. They just are not that sexy.......I refuse to let my pregnancy and a new baby take my sexy away. Granted I am not glamorous most days. But I wear my leggings instead of sweats most of the time and my hubby likes me in my leggings, it is easier for me to be comfortable and still show off my figure. I personally think leggings are a great choice for pregnancy....

When your  heart swells with the overwhelming desire to give so much more to your family and community what do you do with that?  I haven't really asked myself that question until today.  Some may say act on it, that is part true but normally when your heart swells with the desire to give the desire is bigger than your energy level, your wallet or your time will allow at that very moment.  Others may say pray about it; you can't go wrong with that option.  I believe you should pray before you act on anything.  But my main point today is a swelled heart can go in two directions.  It can become a joyful heart because even though you can't fathom how you are going to do all that you want to, you are just glad to care enough to want to do so much for others.  It can also become and burdened and troubled heart because you are trying to do all your heart desires in your own strength and too quickly..  I believe that when you hit points in your life...

Usually I would have in my mind a plan for what I plan to get done tomorrow.  A plan that I very much need, but I'm feeling so under the weather today, I don't know what I'm going to be able to do tomorrow.  There are not many allergy meds out there that are safe for pregnant women.  The one's that are, don't work very well for me.  So I'm hoping this weather passes and it gets cold again so my allergies can feel better.  I'm really going to pray for that.  I have a feeling that I'm going to feel like this until the weather turns back cold again.  I'm hoping my family will get a home cooked meal tomorrow, but maybe they will and maybe they won't.  I'm hoping to do some work around the house, but I don't know.  I'm just hoping to be productive and be able to play with Noah a little bit.  But I don't  know about that either.

I use to browse bookshelves at times when I first became a mom and I would see "Busy Mom's Guide to.......", and I would say to myself "I'm not one of 'those'". I'm not a "busy mom". "This book is not for me". But oh how the tables turn and a revelation comes. Maybe I've been in denial on some level. But I looked at my week this week and I've been running errands everyday plus getting dinner cooked for my family, plus trying to do what little cleaning I could, plus trying to stop and spend time focusing on God and His word, plus spending quality time with Noah, plus the intimate wifely duties and not to forget the family business. I have stuff to post on eBay today, an invoice to do and I have to catch up on some other accounting things. Today as I looked at all this I said to myself "Ande, you are now officially a 'busy mom'. Now maybe some of those books might help me. Admitting that I'm a busy mo...

I think it's important to have goals in life, things that you are passionate about achieving.  Everybody has different goals.  I don't judge others for their goals and I don't really care who judges me.  I think as a mom or dad when you are focused on your goals you have to remember their is a little person watching and in a lot of cases ready to replicate the life you are living.  When I got saved, I wanted to be the best "child of God" I could be.  I won't say "best Christian" because I know I'm human and I wasn't looking to perform for God.  But I knew I wanted to be a darn good child to my Father.  I still feel that way.  When I got married, I wanted to be the best darn wife I could be to my husband.  That was my goal.  It still is.  But I always have to keep in mind that only God knows what kind of wife Reggie needs, what things are important to our marriage and what things are not important so in order to be the best darn wife...

The need to switch gears.  Obviously moms have tons of things to do and roles to play, things to think about and be concerned about on a daily basis.  This can all get tiring at time and rather overwhelming.  I am learning of my own unique need to switch gears.  Give my mind some time to live somewhere else for a day.  Change my focus just for a day.  Ever so often I need a day where my mind is not in "the housework", not focused on Noah, cooking, doing dishes, doing laundry, etc.  Sometimes I do have to release my mind from that address and take up a different address in my mind.  If you don't that place of "responsibility" can become a mental prison instead of blessing.  This is something I learned very recently about myself.  I actually have learned the signs that indicate I need to take a break.  I normally start to feel intimidated by my responsibilities and I question if I can handle another day of it.  This has been kind...

Colossians 4:2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; I am susceptible to easy spirals into panic attacks.  There are triggers that cause it and I try to be very aware of those triggers.  But today was a day I could of easily got down that road.  I don't know why but some of us are just more prone to panic, anxiety, and depression.  The thing I struggle with most is allowing myself to become overwhelmed.  To many things on my mind.  My mental to-do list starts to recite itself to me.  At that point, all I one to do is jump up running from one thing to the next trying to get things done, but I have learned far too many times............that's the wrong way to respond, for me anyway.  When I do that it feeds into anxiety and worry.  Normally, I have to do the exact opposite; and that is to be still, relax, focus on God and who He is and let all those other things shrink all those other things shrink down to the ...

Even though Halloween was an exhausting day.  It really made me step back and think about the season we are going into.  Thank God for the seasons.  In the Fall the leaves on the trees turn beautiful colors and provide for an amazing landscape.  It begs reason to pause and consider.  Yesterday I paused and considered.  We are going to celebrating Thanksgiving and pretty soon Christmas.  This is my favorite part of the year because I get to see family and just share in festive times and I love that!!!.  Yesterday I said to myself, "Ande it's time to stop and enjoy".   This should be the season of stopping to enjoy.  Stopping to enjoy the beauty in nature, the time with family and friends; and the good food.  Take the time to enjoy your days as we go into the holiday season.  We have been very busy during the first half of this year, right on through the summer.  Things are finally slowing down. I plan on slowing down t...

I have been wanting to add videos to my blog for awhile.  This is my first one.  So I'm a little nervous.  But there will be more to come.  The thing I'm most excited about is doing videos interviewing other women who are at pivotal points in their lives.  I'm hoping I can capture them fresh in what they are going through to talk about their feelings, their plans, their faith, their lessons learned going forward, and most importantly their dreams.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship , created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Design is very important in the way we decide to walk about to and fro in this world.  We live in a world full of influences to be like this person or that person.  We are all truly unique.  God is our Creator and He knows what kind of life we were designed to live and how we were designed to go about our business in this world.  I believe there are many occasions where some of us fight against our unique designs.  As women we feel pressure to conform in so many different ways.  God has designed an amazing role for women to play in this story of life.  It is diverse and multi-faceted.  However, if you start adding the "worlds" pressures to conform along with your god-given roles it can easily be overwhelming.  I think one of the most important pieces of information one can know about oneself is what...

My daughter has always been an early bird, has never been good with naps and has never seemed to need much sleep.  She gets up now between 6:30 and 7:00 every morning.  I do put her to bed by 7pm every night since she doesn't nap but from the time she gets up in the morning from the time she goes to bed, she is on the move.  I don't know how she does it.  Even when she is obviously tired she won't sit herself down and just chill.  When we have playdates with friends her age, when they get tired they just sit down on the sofa and watch some T.V.  Noah doesn't do that alot of times.  She is like a nonstop play machine.  I get tired just being around her sometimes. 

My hubby and I have a contract on a house in Gainesville, VA.  It's a beautiful home.  But it's a short sale so it could take awhile before we even know if the bank is going to accept our offer.  But we strongly believe that this is the house we are going to get and it's not going to take too long to find out.  But in terms of the house we are in now.....................beautiful house but it is so not a good layout for our family.  With the pregnancy and all I have grown weary of trying to keep it organized and cleaned in such a way to fit our family.  Lately I've just been letting it go.  Not that it looks bad, because it doesn't.  It's always been kind of a high maintenance home as far as keeping it straight because of the floor plan.  It's very easy for everything to get all over the place especially with a little one.  I don't really function well with everything all over the place, but I have learned to tolerate it more lately beca...

I'm so excited that I found the perfect little winter coat for my daughter.  I actually had a good idea this year of where I wanted to go with her winter wardrobe.  My daughter has a good sense of style and she enjoys wearing dresses and tights and nice boots.  Instead of just buying anything this Fall and Winter I really wanted to cater to her unique style. So after looking in about 4 or 5 stores, I found her the perfect coat at Gap Kids.  It's pink, ofcoarse she loves pink and it's got nice lining but it also reaches almost to her knees so it will keep her little legs warm this winter when she is wearing her tights and boots. It kind of flares out at the bottom which I really like because it makes the coat really versatile and gives it a little bit of a dressy appeal even though it is an outdoor winter coat.  I can't wait to show it to her I do hope she likes it.  I just need a couple of other essentials to make her wardrobe complete.  Couple more ti...

I haven't done my devotional in awhile.  Like many I fall off from reading my word every now and again.  But God sends people to encourage you to get back in it.  Get back to studying God's word and get back to praying.  He sends people to remind you that God is up to something big in  your life.  Thank you Joye and Luana.  Sometimes we can let a statement like "God is up to something big in your life" because cliche' in our minds.  Like "Yeah, yeah heard it all before".  But when you just stop and think about the God that we serve.  I mean my favorite book in the bible is Genesis.  And everytime I try to read the bible from beginning to end I get stuck on the 1st verse of the bible.  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".  While it know there is so much more to God's story, I just feel like this speaks proportions of who God is.  When you think about the vast expanse of the heavens.  When you ...

When I started this blog it was suppose to be my uncensored space in a sense.  I place for me to reflect, ponder, and dissect the issues of my everyday life.  I don't and didn't really think many people were reading it.  I kind of still wonder if I'm one of the blogs that people glance at and say "nothing interesting here" and move on.  I know it's been helpful to me, but I wonder who else it's been helpful too.  I wonder how important it is that I put a voice to the going's on of my life on a daily basis.  While I am very interested in the lives of others I don't know if people are that interested in my life.  Someone recently has caused me to think and pray about the voice that God has given me in a lost and hurting world.  There was a time where I was very vocal about my faith in God and my belief about what he would do in my life and the life of others.  That voice was quieted a little by past hurts and disappointments.  Even though ...

I am getting my energy back.  I have a lot to share so I'm going to just go down a list. Pregnancy had been kicking my behind.  Very nauseous and tired.  When Noah was at school all I did was sleep and eat and try to get our house in order with the little bit of time I had left.  With Noah, I was tired but I didn't nap much, I hate napping.  But this time around I didn't have a choice.  I was painfully tired.  Yesterday and today were the first 2 days that I've been able to stay up all day, for awhile.  It was nice to have my days back.  Thank you so much Lord for returning my strength and for all the prayers of everybody around me.  Pregnancy is going well as far as I know.  Per the advice of my cousin, I changed my diet and started trying to incorporate some new things that would help me with energy.  So I started eating clementine oranges.  They are so good.  I stopped eating the fast food that I was eating and go...

During my pregnancy with Noah, being a 1st time mom I wanted to get everything right from the time I found out I was pregnant to this very day.  Obviously I can't get everything right and I realize that, but it's hard because you want the best for your cause and you don't want to ever do anything to harm them.  But I said to myself when I get pregnant again I would relax more and not be so worried.  I came to this conclusion in the process of being able to witness how well God has taken care of Noah.  He has led Reggie and I in so many ways regarding her.  Now here I am on the 2nd pregnancy and stressing a little bit already.  You want to know why?  I'm only in the 4th week and the morning sickness is working overtime, so I started taking Ginger supplements, not realizing how controversial this was for pregnant women.  Obviously I am concerned about the effects on my fetus.  I'm saying to myself "Ande not already!".  I am grateful for mo...

When I started this blog, I declared it as "my space".  My therapeutic space to go through life's trials and triumphs.  But sometimes when people start reading your blog you start to question what to share.  But I love being a transparent person and I think I want to get back to doing this on the blog.  I am loving my daughter more and more everyday.  I really think my love will always increase with every passing day for her.  As  she grows God is revealing layer upon layer of her beautiful personality.  I find myself fixating on every little thing about her because she is growing so fast.  She started going to school 5 days a week about 2 weeks ago and she hasn't complained not once.  I have to believe that it's a result of constant prayer for her concerning school.  She is my beautiful little gem!  I'm loving our marriage.  Although we have our ups and downs, our arguments;  Our marriage is the most beautiful relati...

There are so many beliefs out there in terms of what it "should" look like to be a Christian.  Some think Christians should be poor, some think Christians should be rich.  Some know that how much you have or don't have is no indication of where you are in your walk with God.  I was reading this scripture today (Philippians 4:12,13) and Paul said that he has learned to both abound and to suffer need and then he goes on to say that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him.  This scripture really caught my attention because of the context in which it was used.  Did you ever think this scripture would be used in the context of when you're rich, rolling in the dough and you need Christ to strengthen you so you can do it.  I guess we do.  I guess when we abound, we need Christ to strengthen us against the temptations that come along with that, so we conduct ourselves properly in the Lord.  I imagine Christ can strengthen us so that we don...

My daugher started her first day of her "full-time" school schedule today.  Up until now she has only been going 2 days per week, now she is going 5 days and she seems super excited!  I thank God for confirming beyond a reasonable doubt that this was the time for her to begin this particular new stage in her life.  As she is beginning a new stage in her life, I am also beginning a new stage in mine.  A stage that I am feeling surprisingly confident about.  I am going from having a preschooler at home with me most of the time, preparing learning activities for her, coordinating fun things to do and playdates; to being at home all week without her.  I'm handing over some of the reigns of my daughters development to someone else.  But she is truly blessed to be going to the school where she goes and the people there are loving, compassionate and engaged in the children there.  I know God has placed this school in our  lives.  I'm also in th...

Saturdays are my "Don't take life too seriously" day. Saturdays are my "Don't worry how much T.V. my daughter watches" day. Saturdays are my "Avoid cleaning like the plague" day. Saturdays are my "Don't worry about my family's nutrition" day. Saturdays are definitely my sabbath days.  See on Friday things are kind of tapering to go into my Sabbath day.  Like I normally don't cook on Fridays, but I do clean and make sure Noah is occupied with fun productive activities.  Sundays are like my jumpstart for the week.  I jump back on the cleaning bandwagon on Sunday, the cooking bandwagon too.  I'm back to doing activities with Noah and I'm thinking about the week ahead.  As God would have it, I do only has 1 day a week for a day of rest and thank God for it.  TGIS

I just tried this and it is wonderful.  Take 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar and place it in a microwave safe bowl.  Then mix 1/2 cup of water with the vinegar.  Place the bowl in the microwave and heat it to a rolling boil.  It will loosen any caked on food and remove any odor.  Afterwards just wipe down with a clean rag.  It took me all of about 4-6 minutes. 

Staying connected with friends helps you to know that you are not in this thing called life all by yourself.  Everybody has trials and tribulations that they are going through right now, but the worst thing that people do is isolate themselves when they are going through.  The devil loves it when people do that.  Because is makes them think they are all alone and even worst it creates a mindset that says "I'm the only one that struggles with this".  Both lies.  When the devil gets you alone, he can then fill your head with all sorts of crap.  Being a full-time homemaker, it is much opportunity to feel lonely.  But connecting with my friends and getting together in the morning for coffee and conversation helps me to start my day with others and go through it knowing that I have friends on this journey with me. 

The GoodBook.com is a company that sells Christian Devotional Products for children and adults.  Below is the devotional I've been using for Noah   She loves this devotional.  The devotional is written for the bible below:  You can get this bible used on Amazon for real cheap and the devotional is about $10.00.  They are very short devotional and the questions are simple but engaging enough for your child to remember some key points about the bible stories

I have been reading some posts recently on people having problems keeping their granite counter tops clean.  Well, one particular post had a lady that said it seems she has to go over them with a rag several times before the feel smooth and clean.   Well I had the same problem.  Today I figured it out.  After dinner I took a clean damp rag and wiped over my granite counter tops to get all the crumbs and spills up. Then once I got the crumbs and spills up I went back over them with a dry paper towel.  They were smooth after that.  I feel like when you let them dry on their own they don't get as clean and also the paper towel not only gets up the water so they are dry but also any extra residue you may have missed. Another easy thing to do at night, like if your sink is looking a bit dingy and you want it to shine.  After you do your dishes and rinse any food down the drain, put some baking soda around you sink and in your drain.  Wipe the ba...

My daughter Noah will be starting the Fall going to her school 5 full days a week.  The weird thing is that I have a have this unshakable heavy peace about it.  Although I have plenty to keep me busy, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with 3 extra days a week that I'm use to being with Noah.  Even though I have plenty to keep me busy, life is not really about just being "busy".  It's weird because I'm kind of excited.  And it's not like "Oh, I'm finally free" type of excited because I love being home with Noah. It's more like "I wonder what God has for me" kind of excited. Even though I'm tempted to do a little schedule for myself.  I'm not going to do that just yet.  Don't want to get ahead of God.  I'm going to start off next week with the same schedule I've been keeping and then just see what kind of flow I fall into and how God leads me.  I'm excited.

I woke up this morning and "I just wanted my coffee".  But before that could happen I had to get my daughter's shows on, get her juice in her hand and get her breakfast on the table.  I dragged my foot through the normal motions of the morning, tired be ever so grateful for my life.  Noah went through a spell this week of waking me up in the middle of the night and last night was the first night that we were back to normal.   Although I feel like it's been a long time before I actually woke up rested.  But I'm not complaining because once I get going I'm ok.  I've been trying to eat healthy breakfast.  Oatmeal this morning.  I'm trying to start our morning slow and a little lazy this morning.  We will be going to the pool with friends at around 11am. Normally I would of planned some activities for Noah this morning, but Reggie and I had a long day tomorrow and I just didn't have the energy to prepare.  So I'm getting myself I "Get o...

Mondays are actually the only day of the week where I intentionally focus the majority of my attention on Noah.  It's kind of "Spotlight on Noah" day.  I was a little tired today, so I wasn't as energetic as I normally am but we were still able to get out to our new, neat little place we found, that has like 12 swingsets inside a showroom with 2 big trampolines.  It's this company that sells swingsets and slides.  They have a freeplay twice a week in their showroom that's free for kids 8 and under from 10am -1pm.  I'm keeping it a secret, because as of now not many people know about it.  We made it to that, which gives me a chance to run around with Noah a little bit and jump on the trampoline with her and stuff.  Then we went to the Vitamin Shoppe.  We vacuumed the car and came home.  She had a little T.V. time, ate lunch, bathroom Then we hung out in her room reading books and going over her sight words.  Then we designed an invitation...

I believe the answer is "yes".  I mean didn't it hurt Jesus when He was nailed to the cross? Although He was God, He had taken on human form.  It hurt Him just as bad as it would hurt any of us.  Didn't it hurt Jesus while He suffered for our sin.  He was without sin.  He was the only perfect man that walked the face of the earth.  But He was a man and it hurt Him.  If God was not hurting for His people, why would He send His only son, Jesus Christ to die for us.  God took action and these actions had to come from a place of grief and compassion for His people.  So yes, we have hurt Him and continue to hurt Him when we reject Him.  He does hurt because He loves us.  See, God is the inventor of love.  He is the source of true love, the only source.  God has made us the object of his affection.  It was a love affair that started in the garden of Eden long ago,  God didn't just want to "create" something, He yearned...

Once upon of time there was a girl and God gave that little girl a violin and she enjoyed that violin and played very well.  When she got older, God came to her and said "Remember I gave you a violin, won't you play it for me?"  The girl said "I don't feel like playing it, plus it's not that important to anybody.". On night the same young woman was sitting on the couch and she heard a tune in her head.  She thought "Maybe I should get up and write down the notes to this tune" Then she said "No, I don't feel like it and it's not that important to anyone." On another night, the same young woman had a particular feeling of joy in her heart and she wanted to express it in music but she thought to herself "No, I don't feel like it plus it's not that important to anyone".  Then God said to her "It's important to me.  I want to hear it.  Would I have given you this wonderful gift of being able to play t...

It's funny how people will believe these author's of all these "Self-Help" books but won't believe what the bible says.  I know it's hard to believe someone that you can't see.  But God is more "real" then any person I've ever seen with the naked eye.  I would surely believe Him over anybody else.  Not only is He my Father, but my closest friend.  We live in a fallen world and it has invaded our family structure, so we don't always have good examples of what fathers should be to their children.  We do have a Father in heaven and if we let Him he will take authority over our lives and guide us along a path that will always lead to Him.  Everyday we can find comfort and peace in Him because it is His to give to us.  We can't find peace anywhere else.  Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, you can't find it with anyone else.  Thank God that I am at peace with Him now and I am no longer at enmity with Him

Jesus tells his disciples "lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age".(Matthew 28:20).  This was a very comforting thought in my devotional today.  It's my Father telling me, he will always be with me.  Who doesn't want that.  When you know your Father is with you, you can stand tall.  When your Father is with you, you can walk boldly.  When your Father is with you, you can love passionately.  When your Father is with you, you can give of yourself completely.  When your Father is with you, you don't have to be scared.  When your Father is with you, you feel accepted.  When your Father is with you, you feel strong.  When your Father is with you, you feel free.  The waves of life beat against and the current of life tries to drag you away, but you can take comfort that you are safe in the shadow of His wings and nothing can take you out of the palm of His hand.  You may feel the beat of the waves but they won...

I am happy to announce my first online event in which a portion of the proceeds will be donated to a nonprofit organization.  The organization I'm teaming up with for this event is the SPCA of Anne Arundel County.  The SPCA is a nonprofit organization that removes animals from unsafe conditions.  They take in 3,400 animals annually and they do not receive any government funding. Please join me as I join them in fighting animal cruelty by shopping my online Avon store!  The link is below http:// andecarr.avonrepresentative.com/online_event/

I love Saturdays because I don't have to be on such a tight schedule.  It's the one day of the week that I don't worry about cooking or keeping the house in order.  I get to start my morning very slow and I don't have to worry about being ready to get Noah busy by 8:30am doing activities and playing with her.  I don't have to be "productive"  I guess Saturday is my "Sabbath" day in a sense.  Saturday is the day we hang out as a family.  Today we are suppose to go to the pool, then we have the sitter coming at 4pm to watch Noah so Reggie and I can spend some time together. 

Almost 10 years ago I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.  God somehow got me to the place and time of my conversion.  I can't take credit it.  Somehow God saved me.  I really don't know how He did it, He just did.  I don't know how in the world He reached into my heart and turned it towards Him.  Turning away from the partying, the drinking, the sex.  How in the world?  It wasn't an intellectual process of my thinking these things through and deciding somehow that they were not beneficial for me.  No, that wasn't what happened.  I know for a long time I wanted something better for my life, but I didn't know what that was or how to get there, but God did!  It was all God.  He appealed to my heart in a way that only He can to draw me to Himself and to the life He wants for me.  Trust me, God has a good plan for our lives if we follow His plan.  Then I got married almost 5 years ago.  I'm not go...

Sometimes.............ok, I'm lying.............Many times, I wake up and I don't feel ready to face the day. My to-do lists along with my aspirations and desires seem to crush me before I can even get started. I get overwhelmed at the very thought of tackling the various things on my plate and on my mind. Then I freeze. You know like when a deer gets caught in front of the headlights of a car in the middle of the night; he freezes right in the middle of the road. Today I had that very situation. So I stopped and took a look at myself. These days I don't like to spend too much time concentrating on myself, because it's not very fruitful. I'd rather look at God. There are times where it is beneficial for me to stop and take a look at what's going on with me (my thoughts, my heart, etc.) I only take a pause.Today, I considered and I said to myself and maybe God was listening (wink) "Can I just take peek inside my life and look at what's going on o...

Children can bring out the best and sometimes the worst in you. They challenge to your greatest depths and carry you to your greatest triumphs. You fustration and emotions can be taken to great extremes. But I know in my heart that children need to see self control in their parents. If children know they can trigger your fustration or anger than they will work to do it. They feel like they are in control of something when you allow them to control your emotions. One of the things that I don't like doing with Noah is raising my voice. It normally just makes situations worst and it doesn't exemplify a calm way of handling situations. So I am committed to trusting God to help me not to raise my voice at Noah anymore. You are much more in control of your child when you are able to institute punishments and consequences in a calm manner. When I yell at Noah normally it's because I'm trying to talk over her crying and get a point across to her. But I realize now th...

I love my little girl, Noah. There are times where Noah does some things that warrant more than a timeout or spanking. She gets an actual punishment. The punishments normally have the most impact on her. Most of the time she loses her T.v. Shows for an extended period of time, like for a whole day. If she misbehaves before bedtime and does one of those specific things that warrant a punishment I will let her know she gets no T.V. in the morning, which is her favorite time to watch T.V. This morning Noah is without her "Shows". When I start to feel bad about punishing her, I just remind myself of how much her behavior has improved in other areas as a result of being punished. I remind myself of some of the things she use to do and she doesn't anymore because of being punished. She has done well and I'm very proud of her, but I realize that I have to continue to allow her to experience the consequences of her bad behavior so she can continue to grow and learn. ...

Many a mom with grown children have told me once you become a mom, mothering never ends. It never stops. I believe them. Because I look at my mom and other mothers in our family with grown children and they are just as busy taking care of family as they ever were it seems.Not only are you still mothering your own children, but you are mothering your grandchildren and sometimes even mothering your own aging parents. This is the cycle of life. I am just beginning my journey in mothering. I think I need to grab some popcorn, a good movie, a cozy blanket and get comfortable because this is my life. There is no turning back now. Mothers are busy not matter what the situation is, whether in the workplace or at home. We are busy serving. However I tend to think a fellow co-worker or superior in the workplace has the capacity to show a little more mercy than a toddler at home. I'm sure many reading this can relate to this. But the minute I get up, the demands start to the tune o...

I am so glad to have come across so many great blogs by other moms. I am learning and getting a lot of encouragement. Many of these women are great business women as well, I can tell. As a mom trying to build a business again, I think that all these friendships that are beginning couldn't of started at a better time. Thank you to all my new friends in the universe of "Mommy Blogging".

Being a stay-at-home mom and having a little one home with me 3 days during the week can make building a business into a very slow process.  But I have to remind myself of the saying that "slow and steady wins the race". While I'm sitting here building my business, feeling like I don't quite know what I'm doing yet, and feeling like the process is at a snails pace;  I remind myself that "my daddy" will bless my efforts.  It's not so much about whether or not I know what I'm doing, as it is about my trusting the Lord.  Trusting the Lord creates the soil that bears the fruit.

I am looking for individuals to host Epartys for my Avon business.  If you would partner with me in hosting a party, you would receive 15% of all the sales from that party.  If you are interested, it's very easy.  I set it up on my Avon website and assign you a promo code.  That's how I will track the party so you get you 15% of the sales. All you would need to do is send out e-mails and/or post on your blog.  You can just tell friends. If you are interested send me your name, contact phone number and e-mail  Partnering is how businesses grow and I am looking for partners.  Fundraising is also an area I'm looking to create partnerships and use this business to help those in need.  Ande Carr womenntune@gmail.com

The childlike "awe" factor is an amazing thing in the life of an adult.  Just that thing that never fails to make your mouth fall open as you're thinking "wow".  Mine is the simple fact that God was here before anything thing else ever existed, when the earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.  The fact that God has always been here.  He is like this "Master of our universe, of our world". This person who has been here forever and created this entire world loves me individually, is my friend and my Father.  What kid wouldn't want the "Creator of the whole world" as his/her Father.  That's my awe factor.  God can bring out the child in you if you let Him. Genesis 1 The History of Creation   1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was [ a ] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

We all have a specific way that we function best. Some of us enjoy being more structured and some not so much. Some of us like a tight schedule, some a loose schedule and some no schedule at all. I think it is important to discover and remember how you function best as a mom and as a person. This world pulls you in so many different directions as a woman, to be so many different things. But what God calls us to is normally simple. Consult the "Lord of Lords" for wisdom on your design. Ask Him the best way for you to function. I believe grace comes with being more accepting of yourself and how you are designed. How fustrating it must be for God, seeing us struggle the way we do trying to fit ourselves into molds that we were not made to fit into. He must wonder "Why doesn't she just ask me, I can show her the mold I designed her for". Keep your life simple and call Him when you need Him. Acts 4:12 New King James Version (NKJV) 12 Nor is there salvation...

Last week my pastor talked about how Jesus came to set us free. But what really stuck with me was the purpose for which we've been set free. We have been set free by Jesus's loving sacrifice so we would be free to love ourselves and others in a way the pleases God. Young children don't always make that easy. Especially when you are going through something. Like when you barely have a voice and you are trying to get it back for a cruise you are going on in 2 days. I'm just saying............ When I tell my daughter that I need to give my voice a break she goes on like I didn't even say anything, like "I still want you to give me what I want". I know kids are born with selfishness already programmed in them. My daughter seems to mistake me for a waitress/slave sometimes so I'm trying to set the record straight. People like to say that young children are pure. It's so not true. While I believe that when children are young and don't know...

We are going on a cruise in 3 days, so My focus today was getting the laundry done and packing. The cruise is 7 days. In addition to washing & folding laundry I also vacuumed our bedroom and 2 stories of stairs, and the living room. It's already 2pm and I haven't cleaned the kitchen yet. I've stopped short once again from all I wanted to accomplish. I just get tired after 3 or 4 hours of household chores. Go figure. My body tells me "I can't do anymore." I have to respect that but it also means I will be cleaning the kitchen while I'm cooking dinner. Not my favorite way to do it, but that's ok. What would really bless me is if I could find these gloves that are used for cooking. These disposable gloves. I hate touching poultry and I tried to find these gloves at Safeway but they were sold out. Praying that I find them at Shoppers. I guess I'm off to the store once I start the dishwasher. That's my day in a nutshell so far. W...

Over the last couple days I've thought about my life, my family, my friends, my business, and my blog. John 8:32 says "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free". There is a very simple area of my life where there is some bondage. I'm caught between 2 worlds that existed when I was very young. The world of "my mother" and the world of "my father". They were divorced and polar opposites. Obviously their worlds and environments were totally different. There were extremes involved here. I lived with mom but also spent summers and weekends with dad. I loved my mom and dad but because they were such extreme opposites I guess it was hard for me to figure out where I fit between their 2 worlds. I say this more as an adult. I feel like if I'm not "like" this parent then I must be "like" that parent. It's like I'm having a problem accepting my own unique identity in certain areas, for fear that......

This is going to be a short post. I had nothing to cook for dinner tonite. I thought about making rice with corn but we are not vegetarians. It could of worked I suppose. I wouldn't of had a problem with it but my husband would of. I was out all day working on some stuff for my Avon Business . So my 3yr old opted for french toast and I gladly gave it to her. Nothing for my husband but hopefully the crumb cake I have in the oven will soften the blow.

I am big on following blogs and learning about products I'm interested in. I'm big on re-posting stuff that catches my eye and tweeting things that get my attention. If you are following me on twitter or on this blog, you can definitely expect me to visit and read your blog and follow you on twitter.

Well, Noah has officially began her training on how to behave properly. Today he daddy got her up and she was downstairs just crying for no reason and would not stop.  Maybe she had her own reasons, like an effort to wake me up so I could come downstairs.  Either way she was being bad and not listening.  Not only did she go in timeout in her room but she also lost her T.V. shows for the entire day and dad is making sure I enforce it.  I do realize that at some point in a child's life you must start to enforce strict discipline.  A child who does not have an understanding of consequences and does not have any boundaries is going to make for a very unhappy life for that child when they grow up.  Most of us are way to focused on making our child "happy" now.  Doing so steals their future happiness.  We love Noah and we know she is going to spend a lot more time as an adult than she is as a child, so we want to set the stage for her to become a happy,...

Lately I've been feeling like I've been getting more and more behind on housework.  I've been so picky about bringing in professionals to clean my house.  But I think it's going to have to come to that.  This weekend I was a little under the weather with allergies and we are going on a 7 day cruise this Sunday.  We are going to have to bring somebody in to clean when we get back because I don't think I'm going to be able to get back on track on my own.

Just got this product in the mail and tried it.  Everything they say about it in the reviews is true.  I works like a primer, it has an SPF 20 which is great.  I got the smooth minerals pressed powder with it and I'm normally not fond of a pressed powder foundation.  But I used the MagicX face perfector under it and it went on so smooth.  The reviews said it keeps your make-up in place all day without having to touch it up.  I'll post later on whether it did that.  My next post will be showing the foundation I ordered which I was able to order in the perfect shade without having to try a sample first.  The pictures they show on the website are true to shade. This product is only $10.00.  I am just beginning my Avon business.  So if you have a need for a product like this, try this one and order through my online store.  Just click on the link below and it will take you to it.  Thank you so much for helping me build my business....

My 3 yr old is really irritating me right now.  I need help trying to keep what's suppose to be a fun day, fun and relaxed in the midst of my daughter's irritating habits.  So I tell her  "Eat your breakfast because we are going to the water park".  It's indoors and they don't allow food.  She lets her breakfast sit and sit, claiming that she wasn't hungry.  So we walk down the 20 steps outside our house to get in our car...........once we are in the car she says "I want my snacks".  I'm like "no, those snacks are for while we are out at the water park".  Then I'm like "If you're hungry, go back inside and eat that french toast".  She says "Ok".  Back up the 20 steps and another 15 steps to get upstairs in our house so she can eat the breakfast I told her to eat earlier.  Now we are really off schedule.  Instead of going to the bank before our friends get here we have to wait until after they get here and...