TIPS FOR MOMS

If you do not like the manufactured baby food (whether formula or purees), do not buy it. If your baby does not like it you will have to throw it away. That would be a waste. Use plastic or white baby bibs. Coloured bibs when stained will be quickly ruined because stains are difficult to remove with regular soap. Unless you have a stain remover that does not destroy coloured fabrics.

Link to an interesting discussion on MONSTER.COM

Here is an interesting discussion by different mothers on Monster.com. It is about their careers and how they took time off to look after their babies. http://monster.prospero.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?WT.mc_n=CRMUS000096&tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=mstresumetips&tid=2436 You may get ideas on what to put on your resume after the "long" break you took to stay home with your baby.

Auntie Fifi's Weekly

September 16, 2008 Concepts that I learnt from this passage of scripture about the authority and God-given mandate that we have as parents over our children. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. Psalm 127:4,5 (NIV) Who is a warrior? A man of war. One who fights with the aim of conquering. (my definition) Characteristics of a warrior

Strong

A warrior can pull the bow further than an amateur archer. Hence the arrow will go farther)

Strategic

A warrior's mission is to fight. Therefore, his targets are clear, focused

Aims Perfectly

A warrior hardly misses his target when shooting

Sharp arrows

He is always well equipped with sharp arrows

Disciplined

A warrior can sacrifice immediate wants/needs until the goal or target is accomplushed

Characteristics of Youth

Strong mind

Ability to think and analyse well

Good memory (memory fades as one gets older)

Strong body

Full of energy and vigour.

A warrior is not afraid to use his arrow because he understands its purpose. He is willing to release the arrow when NECESSARY. ( A warrior does not use his arrow indiscriminately. In other words, he does not shoot at every object he sees)

A warrior has a trained mind and a trained body

Lesson for us parents

Our CHILDREN are like ARROWS

We should not be afraid to release our children into the purpose God ordained for them. Hence we, as parents SHOULD have a knowledge of our children's Purpose

Because we are young we have the strength to train them into purpose

We also have the mental skills to train our children so they can become sharp (as an arrow)

We can be diligent and help them to persevere because we have a strong mind to facilitate their development

Old Age is characterised by the following

• Tiredness
• Weak
• Forgetful

Hence this stage is not suitable for raising children

Please note that Youth is not defined by numerical Age but by stage of development. Hence there may be someone who is sixty five years old but who has the characteristics of Youth. I would consider this person to be Young.

Children positioned to do exploits for God will damage the Enemy (Satan). But parents must release the children. It is interesting that children were not likened to swords. You wield a sword in your hand. You always have your sword. ( You do not always have your children)

Arrows can only go in one direction. We have to point our children in the right direction

An arrow can only hit one object at a time

Our children must have a knowledge of their purpose and hence become single minded in their pursuit of it.

We, as parents are responsible for helping our children to sray focused.

Auntie Lauren's Weekly

September 11, 2008 On Thursday morning I woke up feeling overwhelmed. Thursday means laundry and I did not feel completely prepared. By the time I finished changing sheets and sorting baby clothes, I felt totally exhausted. Thank God for people with the gift of washing and for washing machines! I also felt the need to do two more things-

1. Visit with a sister who was recovering from a stroke and
2. collect some material for our monthly children's meeting, scheduled for this Saturday. My faithful assistant was unusually late this morning and I began to feel the distress of dependence. How far I could have gotten with this laundry thing if I had done it all myself (with the help of the machine of course). My husband, Paul, volunteered to watch the children so I would not have to cart them around all morning. Even with his kind gesture, I felt sluggish in leaving the house. I just wanted to stay at home and make sure that everything, every single detail of the laundry and the children's activities for the day were taken care of. I felt almost like a cheat in stepping away. Paul had to literally chase me out of the house. I was tempted to get offended at his urgency, sensing that he may not want me around anymore. I obeyed and went. The day turned out to be a beautiful one. I received much encouragement from simply spending time with Sis. Sawyers (the sister who is recovering from the stroke). While the neighbour next door was playing a gospel CD, and I heard two of my favourite songs " Your grace and mercy brought me through" and "You raise me up, so I can stand on Mountains". During our conversation, we were able to give God thanks for His keeping care and reflect on the truth that though our bodies may decay , we have hope in Christ that God will raise us who are in Him from death and give us new perfect bodies! After leaving Sis. Sawyers home, I stopped by a basic school that was being run by a few of my sisters, entirely on a volunteer basis, in the community of Goldsmith Villa. I had been there a few weeks before when my dear friend, Eartha had shared her vision with me and I saw some of the brothers working on painting the building. Now , it looked so different!!! The little ones were neatly separated into three classes. They looked smart in their uniforms. They were all smiling and happy. They had a craft station and a little reading library and their little chairs and tables were oh so cute! I just praised God, who makes visions reality! The same God who enabled His vision given to Eartha and the others to come to pass, is He not able to bring His plans for my two little ones into fruition? Will He not inspire me and make provision for them as well? Yes He will, if I trust and obey Him. My heart overflowed with Joy! I sensed the presence of the Lord, not just in the building, but in my heart and the hearts of my sisters and brother in a very real way!Though my friends appear to have an even more hectic schedule in their lives at this point, I was so happy to see the glorious chance they had been given to depend on the Lord moment by moment! It is so easy to get depressed and distracted when we lose focus on what our Heavenly father has called us to do.Its so easy to get bogged down and upset about little details, when we can't see the Big picture. Though I want so much to serve with them, I am tempered by my expecting our third little gift, due in 4 weeks. Is our baby a mistake? If I were not expecting Him would I not have been able to jump right into this work and get on with it? Yes I would, but that would not be the Holy Spirit's work, it would be my own. God has blessed us with another son because He wants me to learn the discipline of waiting on Him. Does that mean I can never support the work in Goldsmith Villa? Not at all. What I saw today is part of a burden I carry for our children, to see them educated in the fear of the Lord and disciplined in living holy lives and learning to interact with each other in a godly atmosphere. Just like a woman has to be careful when she is carrying a child, not to lift anything heavy or undertake any strenuous activity, so we who carry the Lords burdens have to be careful that we don't allow the weights of life (even legitimate activities) to destroy us and our precious bundles. If we do, our visions will not come to full term,and we will end up destroying ourselves and aborting the purposes of God. God knows what is best for us. He leads us in ways that cause us to understand His ways and His heart and His thoughts. No he doesn't want my service at home to be a drudgery. He doesn't want me to seek "outside ministry" as a means of making a name for myself in Christendom or as a means of escaping my God-given responsibilities to my husband and children. I can still visit whenever I am able to. More than that I can lift my christian siblings who are on the battlefield before the Lord constantly in prayer and ask Him to bless the work of their hands and give them wisdom and balance in their lives. I can keep waiting on God to give me the opportunities and the green light to join with them as soon as I am able. What an exciting way to exercise faith! After leaving there I went by our church and had a wonderful time of fellowship with our church secretary Sis. Cindy Russel. She also carries a burden for the children in our community. She gave me some sound advice on planning for our children's meeting. It became clear to me that I needed more time to prepare, to wait on the Lord and to cement myself in His leading. How precious is the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives. How great is the care of our Father for us. He knows my weakness- that of being a slave to housework and a control freak, so He places in my life people who will draw me away from the attachment to house and things. I am so glad to know that when God sees my oil burning low, He pours more into the vessel. May we always be sensitive to His leading. Thoughtfully yours Auntie Lauren