Friday's poem "Nothing on my own"

Nothing on my own

I'm nothing on my own
took a life time to see

I'm nothing on my own
tried so hard to be
something on my own
did my own thing

I'm nothing on my own
but with God I'm everything


copyright 2013 Verlyn Tarlton

The baby birds are here

What a beautiful Thursday morning. The birds were singing by the window while I read. A while ago I posted pictures of the bird eggs in my flower basket. Well guess what. The eggs have hatched and the baby birds are here! They are so cute and they look like little grey and white cotton balls with pink beaks.

Still the flower basket hangs with the dried up dead flowers and leaves in it. I wonder what people that walk and drive by think or say about the dead basket of flowers that hang from my porch? Not so pretty.

 

I don't wonder for long. Within this basket of dead flowers are five living, fuzzy baby birds. They are just lovely.

Just like life. From the outside looking in our finances, romances and even career chances may look dead. Maybe a dream or ministry has perished, but you never know what God is birthing on the inside. Something alive, something beautiful, just wait and see.

 

 

everyday talk for everyday women...

Why eat at home?

We are in a fast food era and everything must be done quickly so we can move to the next agenda. How many families actually sit down together at home and eat? When you are on a tight budget like I am there is no choice. A family of five on a teacher's salary will find the time to eat together at home.

Of course I like to go out and eat a good meal now and then. It's great to have someone else cook and clean up at the end, especially the clean up part. Also as kids get older they get busy into activities and eating together may not always be feasible. We can try to work around this as much as possible and make eating at home a target goal.  After all eating home is the better choice in my opinion.

The good thing is it's not just about saving money, which we do. Cooking and eating at home costs less than eating out. It's about the time we invest into each other. Taking the time out to sit together and eat brings unity and love into our home.

Why should we eat at home? Here are a few reasons.

First of all, when you eat at home you know how it's prepared and who has prepared it.

Preparing to eat together is a time to involve children if you have them. They can learn how to set a table and clear a table. Children love to be involved and feel important. When children help with setting the table they feel like part of a family unit. They learn how to work together to decide who passes out what, they feel a sense of accomplishment.

Eating at home is a time to connect with each other. A time to sit face to face without distractions. Communicating over a meal brings cohesiveness to a family and as we listen we can hear the hearts of each other and learn more about those in our family.

Eating at home is investing into any children we may have. If we eat together now while they are young it will be a habit when they become teens and the lines of communication can stay open. They will value our famliy time and just maybe we can win their hearts.

Cooking for others shows how much you love and care for them. Eating together shows how much you love and care for each other. It's not just about the food and the eating, it's about the time and connection. It's about being together. 

The children set the table for dinner. A tablecloth was a little extra touch. They are still learning what goes where but for now it was a job well done.  ; )

Back to basics

When I hear running water I get all kinds of creative thoughts and new ideas. My brilliant friend explained that the negative ions from the water has this effect, it's a scientific fact. That's another blog.

So as I was running water getting ready for the day I looked at my hair and overall appearance. I looked rough on this day. Then it occurred to me that I looked this way all week. I had just let myself go, after all it was a very busy week with the children.

 So here's what came to me.

Do I take my husband for granted? Not intentionally, but by my actions, and neglect. I don't always care for my hair, clothes etc because in the back of my mind I know he loves me.

I thought back to when I worked outside of the home. I would never go to work looking like I look too often now. Grant it working on a marriage is the hardest work I have ever done. But I gave it my all in the work place and kept myself up at the same time perhaps I can do the same in my marriage.

So what am I saying here? As wives we can maintain a strong work ethic in our marriages to the best of our abilities. Here are a few beginning tips to help.

Put some time and care into your appearance, hair, neatness, etc. There was something attractive that drew your husband to you, let's not lose it.

Use manners such as please and thank you. So simple but a good start to showing kindness and consideration.

Remember what he likes and give it to him. Is he crazy about food? Cook some of his favorite meals.

Pay him attention. We get lost in the kids, work and busy stuff but men need attention too. They want to feel "wanted". 

A compliment goes a long way. Try it. Make sure he hears you and make eye contact. Be sincere and let him know he's appreciated.

Stash "I'm thinking of you" notes in a pocket or lunch bag. Send texts and emails that say "hope you have a great day". Be creative with this one. ; ) 

Learn his love language. This varies but you can pinpoint it. To get an idea of what I'm talking about read "The 5 love languages" by Gary Chapman. It's a good book. Maybe I'll do a post on this later.

Again this is just a start but a good one.

Think back to the way things were. The excitement of it all. Sure it has worn off, children have come, bills are knocking at the door, work is demanding in or out of the home and the list goes on. It will require a little work on our part. Is it worth it? The question is... Is he worth it? Is your marriage worth the work to keep it up?

 

The truth is, we make time for the things we want to do and we put effort into what's important in life. We can do this! 

May we all learn wisdom and gain insight in our homes and marriages.

I would love to hear from you with comments or suggestions.


everyday talk for everyday women

Thursday's poem "I surrender all"

I Surrender All


i surrender all
that i shouldn't be

i surrender all
that keeps me from thee

i surrender all
my hopes and my dreams

i surrender all
that i think i should be

i surrender all
judgment and strife

i surrender all
the failures in my life

i surrender all
that keeps me from you

i surrender all
rebellion at the root

i surrender all
insecurities and fears

i surrender all
disappointments and tears

to you Lord i surrender
all that i am

take my life i lay it
down in your hands

Copyright 2013 Verlyn Tarlton

The question is how...

As I write this post my heart goes out to those in Oklahoma. Being a busy mother working on many things can sometimes make me lose site of what's going on in the world around me.

In terms of this tragedy, I was thinking that many may ask "why". The truth is no one knows, really. All the philosophies and ideologies can't answer "why". So then the question becomes "how". How do we bear this? How do we get through this?

I submit to you that prayer is the beginning. We should all pray, right now, right where we are.

We pray for comfort. We pray for strength. We pray for compassion. We pray for mercy. We pray for grace. We pray for hope. We pray for healing.

We pray for others and we pray for all.

"May my cry come before you, O Lord..."  Psalm 119:169

God bless Oklahoma.

Children at the food bank

Today has been a very exciting day for us all. We went to the food bank to help stock the shelves with the food we purchased this week. Everyone at the food bank was so kind and welcoming, especially to the children. They walked away with lollipops at the end. We all enjoyed the whole experience and now this goal is complete.


Other projects are in the works in terms of caring for those in our community and eventually our world. Our next focus will be the elderly who are often forgotten.


I'm thinking I will stop using the word "project" must be the teacher in me. I want to convey to the children that giving, compassion and caring are a life style, not special "projects". Something about that word really gets the kids excited. 


My goal as a parent is to instill that giving is not only a form of compassion but also a form of gratitude. We give because we are thankful for our blessings. We give to others because we have been given to.   

 

A friend gave me this link. Please share with others. 

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/10-small-volunteer-acts-for-kids1-htm

Food bank shopping!

It's a marvelous Monday! Today we went shopping for the food bank. The children had lots of fun while I had lots of stress...lol  Thank God my friend went with us. We had a good day and they were very excited to shop.

Not much to say. I'll let the pictures do the talking.



                                        The children helped pick out the food.

                                                    They helped load the belt.

                                                     We sorted the food at home.

 She had to change her clothes???

                                 What started out as clothes for a yard sale...

                                                turned into food for the hungry.

 

Tomorrow we are scheduled to take the food and help to stock the shelves at social services.  My children are already gathering more stuff to sell to purchase more food. Project Compassion is catching on!

Want to try it in your community?

The "50/12 Project" for the children

This summer we are planning to start "The 50/12 Project"? What is this? Glad you asked. We are planning to take the children to see all fifty states in the next twelve years, hence the 50/12 project.

As a child I did not get to go many places outside of the DMV (DC Maryland Virgina) area, as an adult I did not either. So the way I see it, it would be a great idea to let the children see America. As a homeschooling mom, I think it would be pretty cool to see some of the places we talk about in history and geography.

Our plan is to hit the states closest to us (northeast)first, this summer. This will include Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. Every summer and Christmas vacation we will visit different states for the next twelve years, this should ensure that when our little ones turn eighteen years old they will have visited all 50 states. Hopefully we will be able to visit a main attraction, take plenty of pictures and bring back information to share.

We are very excited about this endeavor and plan to keep you posted on the progress. Now we just have to wait to get our RV out of the shop and back on the road. We have borrowed dvd's about all of the northeast states, this will be a warm-up before the real thing. Also I'm starting to point out the eastern states on our pin up map, they really like this!

So join us on our journey as we visit all 50 states in 12 years!  The 50/12 Project.

Life, death and rebirth

I hope all is well with everyone on this beautiful Wednesday morning. About 2 weeks ago, I purchased some beautiful hanging baskets of flowers for my front porch, I don't have a green thumb, so this would be easy, so I thought.


When I brought the flowers they were a beautiful fuchsia/purple color, vibrant and full, boy did my porch look lovely. In about 2 days, the flowers were wilted, dry and looked dead. I watered them thinking they would bounce back, no go.  Turns out the flowers needed to be in shade, I had them in direct sun light on my porch, not a good thing. I waited a couple of days and still they were dead and did NOT look so nice on my porch anymore.  My solution, get rid of them, they were now an eye sore.



I took them down to recycle the soil, the pot and toss away. Guess what I found?

What a wonderful surprise!  I would have never imagined such beauty in dead flowers.

The children saw science and life right on their front porch.

The nest now has 5  pretty little eggs and we will leave the basket alone and wait for the eggs to hatch.

Now because I am a writer, I find a lesson to write about in almost everything I see. The flowers started out beautiful, then they died. To me it was just a basket of dead flowers that needed to be tossed out, to the mommy bird, it was a perfect home to build a nest and lay her eggs. To the mommy bird those dead flowers represented a new place to start life.

 

 

So now the basket still hangs on my front porch. To the naked eye it looks like a basket of dead flowers, maybe an eye sore to those who drive by. They might think "she should take those dead flowers down, no class." But within it are signs of new life/rebirth, soon those little eggs will be little birds, alive and chirping.

Sometimes a situation in life may look dead, but if you take the time to look close enough, you just might spot new life...

Tuesday's poem "Wisdom"

Wisdom

common sense
isn't so common
wisdom is supreme

seek it like the deer
that's panting
for the stream

wisdom can't be bought
nor can it be sold
won't discriminate
between the young and old

yet we all should find her
we all should plainly see
the more we close our mouths
the wiser we will be

copyright 2009 Verlyn Tarlton

The measure of a man...

This post is inspired by my husband. After being married to him for 6 years, I have learned a very important lesson.


The true measure of a man is not what he won't take but what he will take. How many times have you heard a man say "I'm a man and I'm not going to take this!" and wear it as a badge of honor?


I have heard this many many times, heck I have heard men and women say what they would not take, and with great pride mean it. I never gave it much thought and I never saw this as a credit to the person venting. After all being big and bad is not such a great thing in my book.


What I have seen in my husband over the years, has made me come to the reality that being able to "take stuff off of people" and still walk in peace and love is far more impressive. Seeing my husband deal with issues and take them in stride commands respect far more than being "big, bad and not taking any stuff".


My husband has taken far more than any man I know of, to the point where I wanted to smack some folks myself (not wearing this as a badge of honor either) and he would just say something to the effect that "people won't change who I am."


I have tried on many occasions to suggest to him ways to handle situations and get people straight, "stand your ground" I would say. He would just leave it in God's hands and walk in humility. In this, I began to see strength, a strength that I had not seen in a man before, at least not personally.


Now I understand that being able to take a hit is far more important than throwing one. If we would all stay humble on our knees, perhaps the hits thrown at us would be caught mid air by the hand of God. 


With this confidence a man or a woman can take anything...

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day. I hope you all had a great day today. I enjoyed my day, I had all 5 of my children with me, what a blessing. My mom came and spent the weekend with us and we all enjoyed her company.

The children ate more sweets this weekend than they usually eat in a month, but what can I say, it's mother's day!

Blessings to all the ladies who make the world a better place on this mother's day.

 

                                                               All of my children.

 

 

                                                 My 5 children and my mom.

 

 

 

Happy Mother's Day! 

God bless.

The yard sale is over...

Today was the final day of the yard sale...we had lots of fun!  We did not meet our $200.00 goal but we enjoyed the process and look forward to making our purchases of food for the food bank. Walmart here we come!


Now to prepare for my mom who is coming this weekend (today) to celebrate Mother's Day. Considering I spent the bulk of my day outside, I am totally behind in my chores and preparation for her. Hope the husband brings home pizza, I did not cook today...ooops!


I have to mention this, I had the best friends ever helping today. We all had such a great time, what a super fantastic community of folks! 


Enjoy a few pics below. Happy Mother's Day in advance to all the beautiful women, you make a difference.

Ask for the impossible

Today I was reading Daniel 1 and 2 some of my favorite readings. Most of the time I read this with Daniel in mind, the integrity, his intensity, I love this story. However, this morning I saw something different, King Nebuchadnezzar stood out for the first time.

Daniel 1:13 "So the degree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death."

At first I only saw King Nebuchadnezzar as a crazy king who did some crazy things. This time I gained a different view of him and this story. Check out these points:

*  his dreams troubled him greatly
* drastic times called for drastic measures
* since the people could not do their jobs he considered them useless
*  he was going to get answers no matter what
* he was passionate about his dreams
* he was losing sleep over these dreams
* he only wanted the "real thing" no fakes
* not only did he want an interpretation he wanted his dream told to him
* he asked for the impossible
* he was furious when he was told it could not be done

After further reflection of King Neb (for short), I gained a new respect for him and his passion about his dreams. You  see his dreams caused him to lose sleep, he was driven to find out what those dreams meant and he stopped at NOTHING to get what he needed. He wasn't so crazy, just driven to take drastic measures. After all what he was doing wasn't working.  

Had he not put out the decree for death, things would have stayed the same. Once he did that, the good folks started jumping to make things happen! Prior to that they told him it was impossible to get what he wanted and for that heads were going to roll...

So how did the story end? After Daniel heard King Neb was going to get rid of them all, he prayed to God for the impossible, he prayed for the dream and the interpretation. God gave it to him, he gave it to the king.

When was the last time you had a dream and it seemed impossible? Do you still have dreams that keep you awake? Are people telling you that what you want is impossible? Are you still passionate about your dreams?

Well take advice from King Neb, don't take "no" for an answer! Don't listen to those telling you it can't be done, that's useless. Somebody out there has what you need, just keep looking and you'll find them. Whatever you do, don't lose your passion.  

God looks for ways to show himself strong on your behalf. When we ask for the impossible, we open the door for God to be glorified. When we ask God for the impossible we give others a chance to shine.  

NEVER give up! Ask for the impossible.

A Tuesday poem

It's a terrific Tuesday and I hope all is well with you. Here is Tuesday's poem. I wrote this years ago during a rough time in my life, be blessed and encouraged by it.


when it looks like the world around me 
is falling apart it's then that i need
God to speak to my heart

in desperation i cry out
knowing this life is sometimes about
trials and tests to show what I'm made of
will i walk away from God's love

will i choose my own way
his statues and decrees disobey

this walk is sometimes rather hard
my secret fears i sometimes guard

will i release them let them go
my future i want to know

but i find that i must trust God
i have no answers sometimes a clue

God knows what he wants me to do
so i must remain in his will
learning to trust him and be still


copyright 2009 Verlyn Tarlton

Your perspective for His

Happy Monday!

This morning I read the story of David and Goliath, found in 1 Samuel 17.  Whenever I read this Bible story I am inspired and encouraged. There are so many different points that strike me about this, but there's only time for one.

Perspective. This story is about a little guy, David, who fights a big 9 foot giant named Goliath. It's the typical underdog story. The Israelites were afraid because Goliath was so big. Their perspective was that he was, too big, too strong, and could not be defeated. As far as they could see, they were too small, too weak and already defeated.

Now David enters the scene but sees something different. He saw a man defying God. He saw that the giant was big but the God he served was bigger. He slew Goliath and the army of God defeated their enemies that day. It took one change of perspective to make a big difference.

Ponder this, the Israelites saw Goliath and said "he's too big to hit". David saw Goliath and said "he's too big to MISS!"  That's a change in perspective.

How do you see your obstacles today? No obstacle is bigger than your God. Ask Him to trade your perspective for His.


everyday talk for everyday women...

The yard sale!

Hope all is well with everyone.

We had our yard sale Friday and Saturday. It was a success because we did raise money and had a great time with our friends and neighbors. However, we were short of our $200 goal. We raised $106.56!!!  That's a lot of canned/boxed food we can buy!! We are thankful but still we must meet our goal.

Are we giving up? Of course not "NEVER GIVE UP!" my friend has given us a suggestion and we will do it again next Friday, in a different location that's much better than our garage. I think we'll do just great. 

Our set up was great and we had plenty of help. I had much more than I ever imagined I would have to sell, here are a few pictures of the donations we had.

Thanks to everyone who donated so many items for our sale, you're the greatest!