Something to share..........

 The boys are thrilled and especially our youngest as he is going to be a big brother!
I have been learning to trust God each step of the way, one of the verses that God put on my heart at the very beginning is "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7) When I feel overwhelmed or concerned this is my go to verse, it has brought me much strength and encouragement.

We are rejoicing in this special blessing that we look forward to meeting in about 6 months :)

"A mile in His Shoes" DVD winner

Congratulations to Dave & Kristina you are the winner of  " A mile in His Shoes" DVD :)
The winner has been notifiied, and has 48 hours ( Wed. Jan. 25th 8am PST)  to get back to me with their mailing address. If they don't respond then I will pick another winner using www.random.org.

 I used www.random.org to choose a winner, and the winning number was  # 2

I received one copy of this DVD in exchange for my honest review, and no other compensation was provided. Thank you to all of you who entered my first giveaway :)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

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"A Mile in His Shoes" DVD review and giveaway- Closed now

This is the first DVD that I have ever got to review on my blog. I was excited and really interested to review this particular one as the main character of the movie is a young man with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of Autism. This is something near and dear to my heart as our oldest boy was diagnosed with Autism 4 years ago.

The story is set around an 18 yr old,  young man called Mickey who has an amazing talent to throw a baseball. His talent  was discovered by a chance meeting with baseball coach Arthur "Murph" Murphy. Mickey's parents are reluctant to let their son leave their farm because he has Asperger's. Murph convinces Mickey's parents that life in the minor league will benefit their unique son.

 As I watched this movie I was able to relate to the Parents fears and challenges of raising a child with Autism. I appreciated how they touched on some of the challenges that individuals with Autism have to deal with daily. This story reminded me there is hope midst the challenges and struggles of Autism and many blessings too.

I enjoyed watching this movie of hope and faith. If you would like to watch it for yourself you have an opportunity to win a copy for yourself!

There are 2  ways you can enter this giveaway:
1.Leave a comment on my blog, telling me why you would like to win this movie
2. Sign up for my email subscriptions to my blog ( leave a comment to say you signed up)

You can have 2 entries just make sure you leave a comment both times. The giveaway will close Sun. 21st January at 8pm PST. The winner will be chosen by random.org

Gautreau Christmas Greetings

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A meaningful Tradition

"But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.”
Luke 1: 30-31

Over the last few years we have taken our boys to A Journey Through Christmas. It is a 15-minute drive through of the Christmas story with live actors and animals. The first stop you come to is the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary. Every year as I watch and listen to the scripture I mentioned above being read, it brings tears to my eyes.
As a mom, I can’t imagine how overwhelmed Mary must have felt about the news the angel shared with her. God chose Mary for a very special purpose. I believe God chooses us specifically for the children he gives us.
There are days where I feel overwhelmed and extremely inadequate for the task at hand, but like Mary, God tells us, “Do not be afraid.”
Mary is a beautiful example of a woman who trusted God with her son. I think the reason I get emotional as I listen is because I know the rest of the story. It just doesn’t end with the joyous and happy celebration of a new-born baby.
Mary as a mother experiences what it is like to have her son face a very cruel death. I also get overwhelmed with the fact that He died for you and me so we could have a personal relationship with him.
At Christmas we think a lot about giving and receiving gifts, so maybe this would be a good time for you to think about receiving a gift of eternal life and forgiveness, if you have not already received that gift.

I wrote this article for our mops newsletter to correspond with our theme for our December meeting which was "Holiday Traditions.”What do you want your family traditions to reflect? 

The drive through the Christmas story has become a tradition for our family as we want our boys to be able to reflect on what Christmas is really about amidst all of the other business of the season.  
We actually took our boys this past weekend to this event, as we watched and listened  to the scene of Mary and Joseph in the manger with the baby, our youngest M was sitting on his dad's lap and he made the comment, "that makes me want to cry" and his dad asked him "why"and he said "because a baby was born". It is interesting as mom was getting a little teary eyed too :)

Comparisons

Recently I overheard someone describe me as being a creative person! I remember being surprised, as I really don't consider  myself to be particularly creative, at least compared to other people.

Exactly, that's it, we spend so much time comparing ourselves to other people that we can't see who we are? We can't see the unique person that Christ has made us to be.
It seems it is much easier for us to see ourselves as other things which aren't always positive.
Inadequate, unlovable, worthless, failure, weak, small, boring, unattractive, stupid and the list could go on! When we think on these things and let them take root in our lives, we start to believe them! As we continue to compare ourselves to other people around us, we become disillusioned  with ourselves and other people.
And when we believe these lies we feed ourselves,  it affects  our relationship with others and more importantly with God.

 Thankfully God reminds us in His word :

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well.  " Psalm 139:14


Therefore if He has made us then we can't be all these things, because we are made in His image. It is so easy for each of us to fall into a negative pattern of thinking that does nothing for ourselves but drag us down and takes our focus of who God is and the purposes He has for each one of us.
One of my favorite verses is

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Philipians 4 :8 

I write out of personal experience, but I am thankful that God uses His word to speak truth into my life and to know that none of that stuff is true about any of us!

 A picture of me helping my son be creative decorating his gingerbread house at school

My mum came to visit

Last week I was truly blessed to have my mum come to visit for a week. Time with my mum is always treasured since we live ocean's apart :) Mummy visits always consist of a suitcase filled with goodies for our family, lots of extra cups of tea and a shopping partner for me. Yes my mum loves to shop as much as I do, although she tells me she hardly ever does it at home! Not sure I believe that? :)

I am always thankful for the time to talk with my mum, to laugh, hash out different topics, figure out life and do the things that I can't do on a regular basis. The boys were in school while she was here, so we had extra time to chat and catch up.
I love that when she is here I can be real and open, yes we sometimes get irritated with each other, but one of the things I appreciate about my mum is how she is honest with me. She tells me the things I need to hear even if it is hard for me to hear them. She is usually right and you know what mum's do know what is best and my mum knows me well :) She is kind, loving, fun and thoughtful. My mum is a busy lady always putting other people first, especailly her family, when she came here we really wanted to make sure that she would relax and enjoy her time here and I think she left feeling that way! The week went in too fast, but again I am thankful for the time with her and look forward to when we can do it again, either here or over in Northern Ireland.

I hope and pray I can be the kind of mother to my boys that she has been me :)

Thank you God for mothers :)