22 Aug 2016

Sunflowers and Mondays

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Make mondays beautiful

Aren’t sunflowers happy and bright?  I think they make a perfect flower for a Monday.  And I love surprising people with flowers, especially when my local Trader Joes has such a variety of pretty stems for such a great price.

Mondays are often a hard day for folks.  Whether its a return to normalcy (I didn’t do any dishes yesterday so I have a sink full), alarm clocks (yup, mine went off early this morning), or just because you are sad the weekend is over…Mondays often get a bad rap.

  1.  Plan something beautiful.  Whether its a coffee date with another creative, a play date with a friend, or blow-drying your hair and putting on make up, plan something for every Monday that helps bring extra beauty in to your day.
  2. Make a list of happies for your Monday.  It can be some quiet time to regroup from the weekend, special lunch date with your littles, find special things to be grateful for and write them down!
  3. Buy flowers.  Most Mondays include a trip to Trader Joes for me (or us, my littles and me).  We love the relationships we’ve formed there over 2 years of going every Monday, produce to start our weeks out on a healthy note (to detox from the weekend), and the pretty flowers that greet us when we walk in the door.  This week, the flower of choice was sunflowers.
  4. Breathe.  Yup.  Its that easy.  Sometimes just taking time to breathe, whether you are sitting in traffic or practicing yoga, breathing helps bring life into our whole bodies.  Remember, God breathed life into dirt to form man and gave him a soul to long after Him.  Breathing is crucial to our well-being.

Enjoy your Monday friends.

 

13 Jun 2014

KDC Creatives: Thank You Notes

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Who doesn’t like getting a hand-written thank you note in the mail?  Thank you notes are probably the kind of stationery I buy the most.

What does the Bible have to say about thanks?  Colossians says that we should have a heart filled with thanksgiving.  Paul, a prominent NT writer, was always thankful for the people he served in ministry with and those whom he served.  Thankfulness is something that must be cultivated in us.  Selfishness and pride are two opposites of gratitude.  If we think we are entitled to something we will not grow in our attitude of gratitude?

So, why not start cultivating a heart of thankfulness today by writing a hand-written note of thanks!

I thought I would help you out by selling some thank you notes on the Etsy site.
thanks stationery
This is the first of a set.  Each thanks note card set contains 5 and will have various thanks greetings that form the outline of the letters.

11 Dec 2013

Hello December 11: Developing Gratitude in your Children

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card

Or take one of the most popular fast food chains around, Chik-fil-A.  Every time you get something from there you are left with “My pleasure!”.  But, I know from personal experience sometimes the My Pleasure doesn’t come with a smile or even eye contact.

So, what are some ways we can instill this happy heart of reception into our children?

1.  Encourage them to say thank you when they receive something.

2.  Get them in the habit of writing thank you cards.  Even before they can write, you can have them draw pictures or color something to send in a thank you card.

3.  Say grace before each meal.  Not the trite prayers that we often say, but maybe before each meal ask them what they are thankful today.  Then, express that to the one who gives us all things by His good hand.

4.  Interest them in the Gospel.  Remind them that there is nothing they have that didn’t come from God and through Jesus Christ.  Philippians 4 and Romans 8 are great places to start, Psalm 96 – so many ways you can teach your children about this!

“But thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Especially at the holiday time, both Thanksgiving and Christmas – with gifts and goodies constantly being given and received, teach them from a young age how to have a grateful heart!

11 Nov 2013

Practicing the Art of Gratitude

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Facebook has a way of dictating our lives, don’t you think? Or any other social media for that matter. At least in the month of November, that happens to be a good thing. More and more people are choosing to be thankful for 30 things during this month, and putting it on facebook helps them recount all the things and people they are thankful for. Even though I am not taking part in those postings, I did have a word of wisdom spoken to me the other day that I thought I would share.

As my MIL and I were heading toward a women’s event at our church this past weekend, she said how thankful she was to even get to be here to hold her grandsons even if they did cry or get up in the middle of the night or she had to change their diapers (which all of them happened a lot).  That was so convicting for me.

I know I had said I was thankful the delivery went well and that I had friends to help.  And I know I said how cute the boys were.  But, had I thanked God aloud that I get to be their Mommy?  Not that I recall.

When hard times or periods of sleepless nights or trials come into your life – do you remember to thank God for that?  How do you thank God – every day – not just while sitting around the Thanksgiving table?

“Prayer in the name of Christ ends with a calm and joyous Amen; for Jesus Himself is the Amen of God, in whom all promises and gifts of God are sealed.” – Saphir