Wednesday, May 7, 2008

#19 Listen to your mama


Because I said so.

If you live under my roof, you abide by my rules.

Try convincing a child to do as you say without needing to end it with the most dumbfounded reasoning ever of "Because I said so. "

The battle: Why must I clean my room?
1. It will help you find your stuff quicker.
2. So when you are old enough and have your own home, people don't think I raised a slob.
3. So little, crawly creatures don't come visiting you at night.
4. Because your room is in my house.
5. Because this isn't a hotel with room service.

If none of the above work:
Because I said so!

The battle: Why can't I stay out late with friend A?
1. Because I don't know who your friend is.
2. It isn't that I don't trust you, I don't trust everything else around you.
3. Because you should be studying.

If none of the above work:
Because I said so!


Christianity
Honor your father and mother. -Ten Commandments

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. -Ephesians 6:1

Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. -Colossians 3:20

Random
We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves. -Henry Ward Beecher

The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents and the second half by our children. -Clarence Day

Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. -Socrates

Parents who are afraid to put their foot down usually have children who step on their toes. -Chinese Proverb

Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence. -Plato

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. -Anne Frank

Monday, May 5, 2008

#18 Action Speak Louder Than Words


Love is a verb.

Action, action, action. My mom could have told me a million and one times to pray, eat my vegetables, to say please and thank you, but if she never showed me, I would have probably been a junk food eating slob that shoved people around all day. We all need a role model that shows us how to be. Growing up, my mother didn't have to tell me she loved me. I just knew. Some adults don't understand what it means to love, as a child I probably wouldn't have understood those 3 little words. I figured it out, put two and 2 together, who else was feeding me, bathing me, protecting me. Now as I sleep deprived mother of a toddler, I get it even more. All I know is my child better one day appreciate all the night wakings, all the agony I felt because he didn't eat well despite my many attempts in a given day. I hope he just knows how much love I have for him all throughout his life, without me having to say a word.

A co-worker of mine, told me she hates going to church. When I asked why, she explains as a child her mother often scolded her and forced her to go, but never went herself. She swore when she was old enough she wasn't going to to go or make her own children go. She has given her now teenage children an "option" to go if they would like, but she stopped going a long time ago herself. Her children tell their mommy whom never went to church with them that they are not into going.

Christianity

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. -1 John 3:18

15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. -James 2:15-17


Random
They do not love that do not show their love – Shakespeare
Well done is better than well said. -Benjamin Franklin

A promise is a cloud; fulfillment is rain. -Arabian Proverb

Talk doesn't cook rice. -Chinese Proverb

When deeds speak, words are nothing. -African Proverb
As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. -Andrew Carnegie
People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do. -Lewis Cass

Friday, May 2, 2008

#17 Pray


Prayer is our chance in the day to reflect on who we are, be grateful for what we have, ask for what we desire and ponder on how we would like to improve - in peace and alone. As a child, I prayed every night before I went to bed. I remember vividly thanking God for my parents, asking God to help me get 100's on all my tests (haha as if God didn't have better things to do) and asking for protection for me and my family. I still believe in the power of prayer, so why the heck don't I pray as much as I want to.


Christianity
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. -James 5:16

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

Judaism
Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD's. -Exodus 9:29


Buddhism
Prayer is an attempt to merge the inner workings of our life with the rhythm of the universe. -Daisaku Ikeda

Random
Pray, and let God worry. -Martin Luther

If I want to be alone, some place I can write, I can read, I can pray, I can cry, I can do whatever I want - I go to the bathroom . -Alicia Keys

I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit. -Kahlil Gibran

Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God. -Andrew Murray

We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. -Oswald Chambers

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. - Mahatma Gandhi

Thursday, May 1, 2008

#16 Exercise


1 one thousand -- 2 one thousand -- 3 one thousand

Walk 10 Minutes a Day

The outrageous price of gasoline will force us to walk or bike more. Which may not be a bad thing for us Americans. Many of us say we don't have time to exercise, but I think we can't afford not to find time. We often wait until we are on our road to being old, when we get that scary cholesterol results test back or when we feel our bones and muscles weakening and wish we had exercised more. At the point when it is harder to get into the groove of things we begin to try to move it, move it. The benefits of consistent exercise will increase your potential at a healthy, long life. Many scientist also claim exercises fight off stress and depression related feelings. So to honor my high school teacher "come on people, get on up and do some jumping jacks, ready begin, 1, 2, 3..."


Random
To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first. -Shakespeare, Henry VIII. Act I. Sc

If it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all. -Joey Adams

Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it. -Plato

A man's health can be judged by which he takes two at a time - pills or stairs. -Joan Welsh