How to Make a Difference in the World

This post was originally written in February 2012.  These thoughts have been on my mind again recently, and I hope they will be an encouragement to you.

It seems like just recently I have really been struck with the incredible needs in the world around me. One of the things that influenced me was this post regarding adoption and the needs of orphaned children around the world. Of course I wish I could help every single one of them. Then I started thinking of villages in Haiti where people are dying because they don't have clean water to drink. I want to dig a well for every single one of them. Then I started thinking about the homeless right here in America – there are multitudes of them in every city and even right here in my own little town. I want to help them all! What about the nursing homes I have visited where there are not enough staff members to properly care for the residents? Many of them don't get proper nutrition because they cannot feed themselves and the staff members are too busy to do it. They lie in bed begging someone to come change their soiled pants because they are starting to get sore, but are only replied to with, “We'll get to you later.” I want to stay there all day and personally tend to all of their needs!

I could continue to go on listing needs – desperate, heart-breaking needs of people all around the world. I want to do something – to make a big difference somehow. But the whole world is full of needs! There's no way I can possibly do anything that will help!

Then, it dawned on me. I have had the attitude that since the needs are too great for me to fulfill, then I will just throw up my hands in despair and say, “I guess there's nothing I can do about it other than hope that the Lord will come back quickly and redeem the world from the curse of sin.”

I was reminded of this story by Loren Eisley. I'm sure many of you have heard it:

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “Don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can't make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said , “I made a difference for that one.”

I may not be able to make a difference in every person's life who needs help, but I can make a difference in someone's life. That will be one more person who can be shown the love of Christ who would otherwise never know it. Just think! When I get to heaven one day I will be so ashamed at all the lives I didn't influence just because I wasn't trying, thinking that it was impossible to make a difference.

I don't know what God has planned for my life, but I know he wants me to do something more than what I've been doing. I am praying specifically that He would lead me to the one thing that I can do to make a difference.

In the meantime, I have three little people for whom I will strive to make a big difference every day. I have a husband for whom I will make a difference every day. There are store cashiers, church members, neighbors, and numerous other people with whom I come into contact on a regular basis. Am I making a difference for them? Am I doing all that I can to help them both physically and spiritually?

I am excited to see what doors God will open as I do my part to meet the needs of others. If we all do our small part, just think how many more people can be helped than if we all throw up our hands in defeat!

You may not be able to make a difference for them all, but you can make a difference for one.

The Internet: A Tool…Or a Trap?

As the world of technology progresses, it seems that it's almost impossible to even live without the internet.  I know very few people who do not have internet access at their home, and even so there are occasions when they must go to a friend's house or to the library to get online.

You almost cannot complete paperwork anywhere without having a valid email address.  And many times crucial information is sent to that email address that you will never receive unless you actually get online and check it.

Companies are trying their best to eliminate paper bills and move to all online systems.

Printed research material is becoming outdated, and new information is available mostly online.

Friends and family members may only be accessible to contact through Facebook or email.

Even missionaries for whom you would like to pray may only send their updates via email.

If you are going to stay on top of some of these tasks which are necessary for living, you're pretty much forced to have internet access.

The internet is a wonderful tool.  Many aspects of life have become much more convenient because of it.

Prayer requests shared on Facebook can spread around the world in a matter of minutes.

God's Word can be shared on blogs and social media and reach into areas of the world where it is normally suppressed.

Research material on any topic imaginable has become readily accessible.

Bills can be paid without cluttering your house with papers and without any money spent on postage.

Shopping can be done conveniently from home, saving gas money and time.

But as convenient and as great of a tool as the internet is, it also has the potential to be a deadly trap.

Although your goal may be to use it as a tool to spread God's Word, keep up with missionaries, pray for the needs of others, or save time on essential tasks, the devil's goal is to use it for your destruction.

He may do this blatantly by throwing pornographic advertisements in your face when you least expect it. Or he may take a more subtle approach by leading you to more and more interesting (although entirely appropriate) content which slowly sucks away your time.  Both tactics can result in the destruction of homes, families, and individual lives.

Men, Satan would love for you to become addicted to pornography even though you came across it completely by accident.

Ladies, he would love for you to frustrate your husband and children by neglecting your household duties because you were glued to your Facebook feed or Pinterest account.

Parents, he would love to expose your sons and daughters to perverse material that will forever be etched into their minds.

He wants to destroy your home and Christian testimony however he can.

You must not be blind to his tactics, and you must arm yourself against them.

Ephesians 6:11-18  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…

In the previous passage, you find instruction in the use of the spiritual weapons with which God has provided us to withstand the devil.  They are useless unless you take advantage of them!

Daily infiltrating our minds with God's Word, a lifestyle of prayer, and yielding to the Holy Spirit should be our first line of defense against the devil's tactics.

But I am also thankful for practical tools to help us protect ourselves as well.

It would be foolish to delve into the online world without any type of protection against the traps that are embedded there.

Covenant Eyes is a wonderful place to find that protection.  My husband and I have invested in a  subscription each year because we both know that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).  Although we had the standard internet filters set up on our computer, we knew that we are capable of any type of sin and we figured, “Why take the risk?  Why even give ourselves room to be tempted?  Why let the thought remain in the back of our minds that we have the possibility of accessing any type of material our lustful flesh desires?”

Here are some reasons I think Covenant Eyes is an excellent choice for families:

• Separate users – you can add different members of your family and configure the settings to be most suitable for them.  For example – for young children, you could set it up for them to be allowed on one or two websites to play educational games.  For teenagers, you could select the strongest filtering so that they can browse and do school research without the ability to accidentally land on an inappropriate website.  The administrator can enter their password to allow access to a website that has been blocked but doesn't necessarily need to be.
• Internet Filtering – select as strong or weak of a filter as you feel you need, and make the strength different depending on the user.
• Internet Accountability – Besides filtering out content that could potentially cause you to stumble in your Christian walk, you can also ask a friend or relative to be your accountability partner.  Covenant Eyes will send regular reports via email of your online activity to the partner(s) of your choice.  You can have as many accountability partners as you wish and choose the frequency of the report (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).  The report will show your accountability partner how much time you've spent online, what webpages you visited or attempted to visit, the search terms you used, and even whether you tried to uninstall Covenant Eyes from your computer.
• Time filtering – one of the more subtle ways the devil uses the internet against us is by tempting us to use it to waste time.  If you struggle with wasting time on the internet, you can take advantage of the time filters on Covenant Eyes.  You can restrict internet usage to a certain number of hours per week or day or you can choose to block internet usage during certain times of the day.
• Resources for families and churches – Covenant Eyes offers free e-books on topics relating to Family Protection, Pornography Use and Recovery, and Helps for Churches to address the subject of pornography.  They also have a great blog with many informative and thought-provoking posts.

Covenant Eyes pricing starts at $9.99 per month and goes up depending on how many users you have and which services you select (accountability, filtering, or both).   You can also use the Covenant Eyes browser on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad or use the accountability app for Android.

I am determined to do all that I can to make sure the internet remains a tool and not a trap. How about you?

5 Common Causes of Fatigue

Are you feeling fatigued day after day?  Perhaps you may laugh, thinking that it's normal to feel that way, but would you be happy to know that you don't have to feel exhausted all the time?  I understand that you work hard at your responsibilities, and being tired is a natural result of that.  Fatigue – being constantly, overwhelmingly exhausted – is not natural.

Framed Fabric Monogram

Disclosure: The materials for this Framed Fabric Monogram as well as compensation for this post were provided by Martha Stewart/Plaid Crafts and Blueprint Social.

You all may know by now that I'm not the most artistic person in the world. However, I still enjoy beautiful things and crafts as much as any other woman. It's just that anything I do has to be pretty much dummy-proof or I will find some way to mess it up!

When I found out that I would have the opportunity to try out items from the Martha Stewart Decoupage line, I immediately thought of an easy project that even someone like me could complete.

First, here are all the goodies I recieved:

There were so many craft possibilities with all of the lace trims, fabric cutouts, and different finishes of decoupage.  All of the Martha Stewart decoupage products are available at Michael's.

The supplies I used for this craft were:

• Martha Stewart fabric-to-fabric decoupage (I used the matte finish)
• Martha Stewart decoupage brushes
• Fabric of choice (I used a sheet I found at the thrift store)
• Card stock
• Picture frame

Here's how I did it:

First, I found a font that I liked and printed it off on the computer.

I cut it out and used it as a template to cut out an identical piece of black fabric.

Next I used a piece of card stock as a template to cut my base fabric the right size.

I applied a layer of decoupage on the back of the monogram and adhered it to the center of my base fabric.

Then I applied several coats of decoupage over top of the whole thing to seal it. I did this several times, giving it a couple hours of drying time in between.

Finally, I adhered the entire thing to a piece of card stock and stuck it in a frame. I opted to leave it without the glass so that the texture of the fabric could be more prominently displayed. (By the way, this is a great way to use thrift store frames that are missing their glass!)

That was it! Done quickly and easily! If I can do it, anyone can!

Be sure to follow Plaid for lots more ideas:

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You can also check out what other bloggers are doing with the Martha Decoupage products:

Printable ABC Memory Verses for Preschoolers (KJV)

These printable ABC  memory verses were created by my contributor Andrea.  I'm so glad she made these for us!

Recently I discovered that my daughter is ready for some harder Bible memory verses than “Be ye kind” and “God is love.”  She was attending Summer Adventure Club at a friend's church, and she would get a prize if she could learn her verse for the next day.  The verse was Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  We worked very hard, and sure enough – she was able to say her verse and get the prize!  I was very proud of her effort.

A few days later, I overheard her talking to herself in the car, and all of the sudden out came Romans 6:23.  Word perfect. She rattled off the whole verse, and we hadn't even reviewed it for several days!  She then quoted it to our pastor, and her Sunday School teacher at church.  Now I knew that I needed to add some new verses to her memory book.

We will be doing a form of preschool this year, and working on alphabet and phonics.  I had seen some printable ABC memory verses on Pinterest, but they were not in the King James Version of the Bible.  So I decided to create my own!  These memory verse cards were designed to reinforce the alphabet, learn the phonics sound of each letter, and incorporate Bible memorization at the same time.  I created them for my daughter who is almost four.  I tried to use entire verses as much as possible.  A few of them are a little longer, but most are still short and easy.  All verses come from the King James Version.

When children are young, they can learn and absorb information so quickly.  This is the perfect time to pour God's Word into their hearts and lives.  Many of the verses that I can easily spit out without thinking are the ones I learned as a child.  I want my children to know and understand God's Word so that they can say with Timothy, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).  I tried to select verses that could be easily explained, and that would be applicable to their young lives right now.

The printable verse cards are two verses per sheet.  I printed them onto card stock for more durability.  I then cut each sheet in half, and laminated them.  (I use this laminator and these laminating pouches to save money).  After punching holes, I used binder rings to fashion a small book.

I hope they are a blessing as you use this as a tool to infuse God's Word into your little one!

What I Didn’t Know as a First Time Mom

This post brought to you by HUGGIES. All opinions are 100% mine.

When this new little one arrives, she'll round out the number of our children to an even four.

I remember how different things were when I had my first.  I had read all the books and listened to all the advice, and I thought I had this thing all figured out.  Now I look back at my first-time mom self and laugh.  There were so many things I didn't know.

• I didn't know that I'd feel like I had been run over by a truck for the first six weeks.
• I didn't know how badly my back would hurt when I tried to bend over the bed to change diapers.  (We didn't own a changing table.  The know-it-all baby books said it wasn't really necessary.)  It took me a while to figure out that getting down on the floor was actually easier.
• I also didn't know that changing said diapers on bed would immediately trigger an irresistable urge in that sweet little baby boy to wash my sheets for me.
• I didn't know that in my sleep-deprived state I would be too tired to care about why the sheets were wet and that I'd sleep on them anyway…with a towel on top of course.
• I didn't know that it would be okay to go to a friend's house when I was invited…even if it was past the baby's bedtime or naptime.  I just didn't know that newborns can adapt wherever you take them.  I didn't know how badly I would regret turning down the invitation to relax with friends.
• I didn't realize how quickly the newborn phase would pass, how quickly he would grow.

All new moms will experience times when they realize, “I didn't know this is what it would be like!”  That's why The Mommy Center is helping new moms to navigate those first few months by equipping moms with everything from baby essentials to advice from moms who have been there before. They'll show you the ropes and tell you whether their favorite brand was HUGGIES® Little Snugglers Diapers, HUGGIES® Pure & Natural Diapers, or HUGGIES NATURAL CARE® Wipes.  They'll help you find great values on the products that will be most helpful to you.

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No matter how tiring or uncomfortable all of those “new mommy moments” have been, I can look back and say emphatically, “They were all worth it!!!”