Numb

I'm surprised at how much the passing of Michael Jackson has affected me. I felt a numbness for most of the day yesterday. Late in the evening it started to sink in, and I started crying. Of course I've never met Michael Jackson, but I felt like I had lost someone in my family or something.

My brothers, sister, and I used to watch The Jacksons: An American Dream movie a million times. We watched it so much together that we would say the words right along with the actors throughout most of the movie. I remember watching Thriller, and all of the other popular MJ videos in the 80's hundreds of times along with my siblings.

I'm sad that he's gone, and it still feels like it's not really true. He was a legend, and he will be truly missed. My prayers are with his family.

Three kids for three weeks

I haven't been blogging much lately, and it's because I have been too exhausted to do so. For the past three weeks I have been babysitting my 2 year old nephew, and, oh my goodness, what a treat! Ha!

Babysitting is a great way to earn money from home. . . if you have the patience. And, I don't think that I do. God still has a lot of work to do with me on that front. Caring for my own two children is one thing, but adding another child to the mix, an active toddler boy is another. This Friday is supposed to be my last day, and although I have enjoyed the extra money, I know that this is not something that I would like to continue doing in the future.

Caring for him reminded me of why mothers should take care of their own children. Because, no one is going to love and take care of them like you would. Except maybe your own mother. My mother thinks that my kids are hers by the way she acts with them, and how she is always telling me what to do with them.

But anyways, caring for children in your home is a great way to earn money from home, and provide extra social interaction for your children. It's not really my cup of tea, but for some people it may be.

Right now I'm sleepy, and I'm about to go to bed. Next week I would like to talk about The Secrets of Fascinating Womanhood, and what I thought about the book. I'm almost finished with it.

Have a great rest of the week!

Being a Fascinating Woman

I read the book, Fascinating Womanhood, in 2004, a year after I graduated college, and when I read through the book I was simply amazed! It sounded so old-fashioned and wholesome, and, I loved it!!! The author, Helen Andelin, articulated so well about a woman's role, and what leads to ultimate happiness for a woman, and it resonated so well with me, because I instinctively knew these thngs in my heart. But reading the book was so inspiring and renewed within me the desire to become the best woman that I could be.

Earlier this week I stumbled upon The Secrets of Fascinating Womanhood, which you can download for free, and I have been reading it on my computer as I have time. Since I have been married, I usually reread through the book whenever I have a particular problem with something, and it inspires me to work on being the best woman and wife that I can be. I have been challenged and convicted while reading through this online resource to be a better wife to my husband.

How sad I was, however, when I learned that Helen Andelin had passed away on June 7th. I am thankful to her for writing such an inspiring and powerful book, and I hope that many women who want to help their marriage become the best that it can be, will read the book and learn from it, like I have.

I encourage you to read The Secrets of Fascinating Womanhood, and see if it is an inspiration to you. It shows how women actually work though Fascinating Womanhood and the results for them. So far I have enjoyed reading it, and I hope you will too.

Smallest BlessingsThursdays: Thankful To Be A Homemaker

It's Thankful Thursdays over at Southern Housewife's Blog, and I decided to participate. The blessing that I'm so thankful for today is being able to stay home with my children and care for them.

Yesterday, I happened upon the website, www.daycaresdontcare.org, and I felt extrememly grateful that my children don't have to to be in daycare. It's something that I purposed since I was younger, to not put my children into daycare.

For some reason it just made me open my eyes even more to the powerful impact that being at home with my children really makes. I felt sad for the many testimonials of the negative effects of daycare usage. But, I didn't need to read it to know. It just made me all the more thankful for the fact that I'm home with my babies, and get to love on them and teach them, and have fun with them throughout the day.

They get to enjoy being at home with Mommy, and being always near me. They get to have a sense of security in knowing that Mommy is always near, and I am so grateful for that, because extenuating circumstances could have reversed the situation. But, God has provided for me to be home with them and I am so thankful.

The pictures above are of me in a dress that I had stashed away for awhile. When I put it on I thought I looked like a 1950's housewife. How cute, I thought. I have felt so much more productive today, wearing a cute little dress around the house, even though I had absolutely nowhere to go today.

Mary Kay Lady

Over the weekend I attended a friend's Mary Kay business debut. It was her first home party, and it was actually quite a bit of fun.

My friend is a single mother of a school-age daughter, and she has told me that she is tired of the corporate world. She wants to find a way to earn money from home. So, she has ventured into selling Mary Kay.

I had never used a Mary Kay product before this party, but I must say that the products seem very nice. My favorite color is pink, so I love how most of the containers are a beautiful shade of pink. My friend talked to me about possibly becoming a Mary Kay lady as well.

It seems like a nice business venture. My main drawback is that you need $100 to start. As opposed to Avon, where you only need $10 to start. And, I have used Avon products since I was a little girl. My mother loved their skin creams, and bought all the various scents. I love them now, and am a dedicated Avon fan.

If you are looking to purchase some Mary Kay products online, my friend's website is www.marykay.com/metoyamonroe

Just wondering, have you or anyone you've known experienced much success with selling for Mary Kay or Avon? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Have a happy Wednesday!

Finding Fulfillment In My Duties as Wife and Mother

In my last post about staying home with the children, I mentioned how I'm learning more about the joy and beauty of being a good wife, mother, and homemaker. It is definitely a challenging job, and requires skill to do it all well.

The other day my husband said to me, "Being a wife is a hard job, isn't it?" I replied, "Isn't being a husband?" He went on to say that being a husband is a different kind of job. He's responsible for providing and going to work, but he doesn't consider his professional job to be a difficult job, but rather easygoing, laidback work. I, on the other hand, work hard cleaning, taking care of our home, the children and him. And, it's like labor kind of work, he said. Hard work. "I bet you didn't think it would be this hard when you wanted to be a stay at home mom, did you?", he asked me.

In many ways, I did think it would be hard. I remembered thinking how hard my mother and grandmother would work cooking dinner, and being in the kitchen for so long preparing an elaborate meal, the great effort that it took to keep the house cleaned, getting all of us kids ready to go to church, or anywhere, cleaning a mountain of dishes, etc. I used to think it seemed to be so boring to have to do all of that.

Until I had to do those things in my own home. After seeing how much having a clean home and delicious meals meant to my husband, I had a renewed sense of motivation for being a good homemaker. And, I actually started to enjoy cleaning. Not usually the act itself, but the results of cleaning usually recharged me, and made me feel so good and accomplished, and I enjoyed that feeling. Having a clean kitchen to walk into each morning is so refreshing! I've come to actually enjoy washing dishes, and find it to be a great time to relax and ponder on different things.

I'm starting to enjoy catering to my husband as well. I admit that I had to let some feministic ideas go. But, the more I made it a point to fix my husband's plate, to cook meals that I knew he enjoyed, to wash and fold his clothes, to rub his back, to look pretty for him, to do the different little things that I knew he liked, the more I enjoyed doing those things for him. I actually look forward to doing those things. I receive so much satisfaction from serving him.

Just like I receive so much satisfaction from having a clean and orderly home. I just think if you set your mind to achieving a task, the more you do it, the more you like doing it. It reminds me of a story a preacher once shared.

He said that a woman went to her pastor seeking help because she wanted to divorce her husband, and wanted to know what she should do, since she believed divorce was wrong, but felt it was impossible to remain married to her husband. Her pastor advised her that for the next three or four months she should cater to him and treat him as lovingly as possible. Then at the end, spring him with divorce papers, because he would never suspect it coming. She thought that it was a great idea, and went about treating her husband like he was a king. Well, at the end of the couple of months, the pastor saw the young lady again, and asked if she followed through with the divorce. She replied, "Divorce? Why would I divorce my husband, I realize just how much I love him. I definitely want to make things work."

The pastor knew she would come to this conclusion. The message behind it is that our mind follows our actions. She acted lovingly toward her husband, and her mind and emotions began to follow.

You can't just follow your emotions. Just because you don't feel like doing things, doesn't mean that you shouldn't. Do your duty, and your emotions will follow.

Staying At Home With The Kids Is Not a Bad Choice

While reading a new blog the other day, I happened upon a comment made to a post about being a stay at home mom. The lady said that she would not be disappointed if her daughter became a musician or artist, even though it's an unstable occupation, but she would be MOST disappointed if her daughter became a stay at home mom. She went on to say that she values and respects many stay at home moms, so she doesn't know why she feels that way.

Interesting. I was kind of stunned that she would say that she would be most disappointed if her daughter became a stay at home mom, like that is the worst that she could do with her life. The commenter is a working mother. Growing up, I have always been admonished by my parents and grandparents to "get your education." And, I did. The main reason was so that I would end up being successful, and have plenty of money to do the things that I wanted. I don't think my parents are disappointed that I'm a stay at home mother at this point. They look at it as a temporary situation because I have two small children at home.

In many ways, I have looked at it as a temporary situation, too. It is a financial struggle for me to stay at home. If I went back to teaching, I would have a guaranteed and stable income every month, and our lives would be financially very comfortable. But, at what cost to my children, at this juncture? I do work from home, but with two small and demanding children, I am not able to devote the time that I need to my work from home. If we only had these two children, then I would feel comfortable going back to teaching when my daughter enters school. But, what if I get pregnant again? Then, that's more years at home.

God has provided in wonderful ways so far, and I trust that He will continue to do so. I know that He will open doors as needed. Plus, I'm starting to really get into what being an excellent wife, mother, and homemaker is really about, and I'm eager to stay home and excel in the role that God has for me. More to come later about that. . .