Teresa's Treasures

Recently, while shopping at Wal-Mart, which is where I go EVERDAY to meet all my friends, :-) I heard a lady, in the customer service/return line, talking--no yelling--at her grandchild, which, no doubt to her, was her way of disciplining him. She said something like this: "ETHAN!" " Ethan, come here!" "Ethan...ETHAN... ETHAN COME HERE!" "What are you doing?" "Get back in this line!!!" "Ethan, I'm going to get you if you don't get back in this line." "Don't you act like that." "If you don't come here, I'm gonna get you." "Are you listening to me?" "Get yourself over here." "Leave that alone and get over here, right NOW!" And on and on she went. I knew by now that the little boy's name was obviously ETHAN and that he probably thought his last name was DON'T. I could understand why, if he did. So, to stop the scene, give the grandmother a break and g...

Kelly has been teaching Bella sign language for some time now, to make communication between the two of them less frustrating for Bella...at least until her words "come in." The first sign that Kelly has taught her is MORE. It, typically, is taught by touching the ends of the fingers together, in a tapping motion, directly in front of you. Kelly has followed the rules by looking for the right time and being consistent, signing MORE over and over again in context, which is usually when Bella eats, as she is showing us when she wants MORE bread at Mariah's. And Bella's sign for MORE is arms completely crossed, moving them back and forth on top of each other. We have all been thrilled that Bella has learned the sign for MORE when she wants MORE food--especially bread. One day this week, David came home from work, and, as usual, picked Bella up to give her a hug. After he had hugged and hugged her, thinking it was enough, he handed her to Kelly, and started toward...

Twenty-four years ago today, was one of the most beautiful days I can ever remember. Everyone was either making plans to watch or go to the Kentucky Derby or wondering how they could celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The morning fog lifted and a new day began, that revealed the beauty of Spring and celebrated God's handiwork. I was in awe of God's creation, but I was even more in awe that I was a part of it. God knew something very big was going to happen to us that day. And it did. You woke me up around 4:00 a.m., which you had done on several occasions, to go to the bathroom, and I sat there realizing that the nine months we had spent together was soon coming to an end. We had been inseparable, you and I. When you moved, I moved. When I moved, you moved. Coughing, kicking, sneezing, hiccoughing, stretching, yawning, tumbling--there was nothing we didn't do together. What you did, I did. What I did, you did. We were inseparable. Even though we could have lived apart, God knew we di...

I like lists. Here's one on parenting. 1) Children don't go in straight lines. They change all the time. How your child acts today, may not be the way he acts tomorrow. 2) There are no mistakes in child rearing. Even the "bad" decisions we make and the "bad" things we regret doing, can be used to benefit us and to glorify God. 3) If we give our children to God, we will see them as a gift, both from Him and from us, rather than a possession. 4) If you can't be a "stay at home" mom, your child may be developing a relationship with his caregiver, that develops a trait, that will benefit him, in a way you haven't seen yet. 5) If it won't matter in five years, it doesn't matter. 6) Pick your battles. 7) Your child will be in diapers today and married tomorrow. 8) Great parents have rebellious children. 9) If a child grows up to ask questions and "leave" the church, he may be developing his "...

Please don't think that because I'm writing a post about struggling as a mom I think I have all the answers; you and I both know I don't. But having been given permission by Melanie Smalling who wrote a blog entitled Struggling recently, I want to share with you some of my own personal experiences and "wisdom" that I have received over the last 27 years, that has helped me in my own struggles with raising children and with just what God expected of me when I was your age. So it is mostly with my heart, instead of my head that I write this entry about struggling. First of all, in paragraph two, Melanie starts with the words,  "I'm so tired. So is everyone else. I feel like God has been giving and giving and giving to me for so long through so many people and I should be so full of Him that it would be evident in my life. And then I look at my life and it's kind of the opposite. I still feel like I'm taking and taking and taking." When I wa...

Last night, after life had stopped and Phil and I had already gone to bed, I opened up and said "I'm at a crossroads in my life right now. I'm not really doing anything at church right now, except teaching my Wednesday night ladies class, the videos are not selling because I don't have a marketer and I don't know what to do with them, Laura is moving and I have no more kids in the house, and I could get a secular job, but I don't know if I could keep it because of my health." I said also that I felt like my job at church, over the last twenty years, had been to pray that we could get to where we are today, and we are, finally, there. We have not "arrived" but we are finally at the place where we can understand "freedom in Christ" and I know that, now, we can soar. Phil suggested that I help at church, since Sandra had left, and Gayle needed the help. I admit that that's something I'll probably look into, but that's not the a...

In March I started mowing again. When I taught High School in the late seventies, I mowed because I didn't want to kill my students and I needed something to get rid of my frustration. This time, thirty years later, I'm mowing because I want to. With Spring just beginning, I've only mowed three times, but each time I've just been overwhelmed with emotions that have been indescribable and uncontainable (words you're going to hear again). God speaks to me through mowing. These are some lessons I think of every time I mow, that apply to my Christian life as well. You have to have the right equipment . 1) a good lawnmower 2) a weedeater 3) gloves 4) sunglasses and 5) most importantly, an IPOD. * Bad picture but, they're all here if you look closely, minus the weedeater. "Therefore put on the full armor of God,...the belt of truth...the breastplate of righteousness...the gospel of peace...the shield of faith...the helmet of salvation...and the sword of the Spir...