Christmas Time

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone! I am so excited that the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is among us. This is such a joyous and loving time of year, or at least it should be. It’s so unfortunate that many people allow the commercialization of Christmas to totally overshadow the TRUE meaning of Christmas. On yesterday, my husband and I visited our previous church and heard a wonderful message delivered by the First Lady. She spoke on how the celebration of the birth of Jesus, which was meant to free us, is often met with people allowing themselves to get bound by debt. She made a very good point in explaining just how people get so caught up in buying gifts that they can’t afford then later feeling overwhelmed with all of the debt that was accumulated at Christmas time.

Most of us like to bless others with nice gifts or find ourselves on the receiving end of such. However, this is not what Christmas is all about. I actually found myself feeling a bit unsettled when I came to the realization that my Christmas gift list would have to be cut in half of what it has been in previous years. Before having our second child earlier this year, I made a personal sacrifice to stop working for a year to focus on being a stay at home mom. Because of this sacrifice, we have had to exclude most of the “extras” from our budget, including many Christmas gifts that we would’ve normally purchased. After I had a very brief pity party, I thought about what Christmas is REALLY about. Our Father gave his only Son for you and I to experience eternal life, and that is the best gift that anyone could ever give or receive! John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” With that being said, there is no reason for any of us to feel bad about not being able to give the gifts that we would like to give. That is NOT what Christmas is all about.

If you find yourself in a situation where you feel bound by the over commercialization of Christmas, please take a few moments to reflect on John 3:16. Don’t let a celebration of freedom bind you through tricks of the enemy. Your friends and family should be able to accept whatever you are willing to give them for Christmas, even if it's an act of kindness or a simple “I love you” accompanied by a hug.

We are so blessed to have Christmas fall on Sunday this year. This affords us an opportunity to go into the house of the Lord and assemble with the saints on the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Don’t use Christmas as an excuse to stay out of church, when it is the main reason that we should be in church. “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.” (Psalm 122:1). It is my prayer this blog post is well received, it's not meant to be preachy in nature, but I had to share what the Lord put on my heart.

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (www.savedmom.com), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to contactsavedmom@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M

Date Night Under $50

As most of you know, I am always in search of a great bargain. I am happy to say that this past Friday hubby and I had an awesome date night for less than 50 bucks! I’m sure you are wandering just how I pulled this one off and I can’t wait to tell you.

Our date started at a local theatre, where we went to see the play Christmas Gift. Several weeks ago I entered to win free tickets for two on my local Macaroni Kid website. This is a site that most major cities have set up for parents to get info about things going on in their communities. You receive a weekly email that contains great parenting information, weekly giveaways and all the local kid-related events happening around town. The link to my local site is www.collegepark.macaronikid.com.

After enjoying the play we went to dinner, compliments of a Restaurant.com certificate. Well, at least that was the plan. I always pride myself with planning everything down to the smallest detail, but that didn’t work this time around. We arrived at the restaurant an hour and a half before closing only to find that they were closing early due to the fact that it was a “slow night” for them. Normally something like this would have totally vexed me, but since I am such a great planner I had a secondary location in line. In the current economic climate that we live in, it actually isn’t uncommon for non-chain restaurants to close early, so be sure to call ahead before going if you’ll be arriving within 2 hours of closing time.

I knew before going out that we didn’t want to spend more that $35 on dinner, but we didn’t want to compromise quality either. I have purchased several certificates at www.restaurant.com, which is the perfect way to dine well on a dime. Although, I didn’t have a certificate for the secondary location, I knew that with a few strategic moves in mind we could still come in on or under budget. Most restaurants offer some type of light fare to get you started for free, if you simply ask. For most restaurants it’s complimentary bread/rolls with butter. However, we were dining at an Asian restaurant so we were able to get complimentary fried noodles with dipping sauce. Another strategy that I have used for quite sometime is ordering two glasses of water (free) and one refillable drink (such as tea or lemonade) that we can share. Next we ordered our main entrée’s and forewent the desert, coming in at $32 including tax and tip (plus we both had left-over’s for the next day)!

We left the restaurant to head home where my sister had agreed to watch the kids for free. To our surprise we found ourselves stuck in roadwork traffic for about 30 minutes, which actually turned out to be a great extension to our date night. It gave us an opportunity to have a nice talk without the distraction of noisy children in the background.

Sure there were a few unexpected “bumps” in the road during our night out, but it actually made for a longer, kid-free evening with the man I love. Can’t get much better than that. I know that it’s not always easy to plan a date night after having children and living on a tight budget, but it is possible. If you seek God first and purpose a great date night in your heart, then add a bit of creativity plus $50, you will be surprised at what can happen.

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (www.savedmom.com), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to contactsavedmom@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M

Parenting With Jesus In Mind

A few days ago I had a conversation with my husband regarding my relationship with God. I was really transparent in telling him that since my last pregnancy I noticed that I wasn’t as consistent with my “God time" as I had been in the past. I recognized that this was a problem and took the necessary steps to get back on track with spending more time reading the Bible and communicating with my Heavenly Father.

In the midst of reflecting on that conversation I realized that as I increase my time with God, I should also increase my children’s time being exposed to the things of God. Whether we realize it or not, as Christian parents it is our responsibility to cultivate our children’s walk with the Lord. “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

When it comes to making good choices and decision regarding our health I always tell people that the eating habits that one develops early in life will most likely stay with them into their adulthood. The same goes when it comes to our spiritual well-being also. We all know that we can start and grow our relationship with the Lord at anytime, but if we choose to expose our children to basic spiritual principles early, just imagine how much more their lives will be blessed for it. We don’t have to make this exposure a complicated process. A few things that I do to aid in this process are reading bible stories to the kids, teaching them simple one-line bible verses, praying with them, and telling them to ask God for help when they need it.

Even though I was an adult when I received Christ as my Lord and Savior, I actually did so because of the influence that my parents had on me. My mother and father both gave their lives to the Lord during my teen years and then began talking to me about the importance of salvation. Neither of them were forceful in their approach, but they were consistent in sharing the “Good News” with me. At first I had no desire of receiving salvation and expressed this to them. However, I now thank God that they didn’t give up on me. I also have a greater appreciation for what they did for me now that I have little ones of my own.

We all want the very best for our children, so let’s take the time and necessary steps to expose them to the way of the Lord. For we know that God’s foundation is the best foundation. Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (www.savedmom.com), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to contactsavedmom@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M

Noah’s Ark

We recently celebrated my son’s birthday and I charged myself with the task of finding fun things to do as a family on a very small budget. My husband shared with me that as a part of the birthday weekend festivities, he wanted to take our son to do something that would involve exposure to different types of animals. I figured I could probably find a good zoo deal online, but didn’t find much of anything. Then I attempted to secure a good deal at a petting zoo, still no major breaks. After that I tried my hand at farm deals, still nothing great turned up.

I eventually stumbled upon Noah’s Ark, which is an animal habitat located about 40 minutes outside of Atlanta, GA. I was ecstatic when I found out that we could go there and see a whole host of different types of animals for absolutely FREE! I didn’t really know what we would have in store when we got there and my hopes weren’t all that high since we didn’t have to pay anything to get in. However, after having such a great experience we will definitely visit again.

We were able to walk along a pre-set path and see many animals in their habitat, plus enjoy nature trails as well. We saw lions, tigers, emus, bears, ostriches, birds, primates, wolves and so many other great animals. Our son really enjoyed the trip, but I think my husband enjoyed it the most. It was nice to stroll in such a peaceful environment and even nicer to see animals being so well cared for. The scenery was great and the price for admission was even better!

Noah’s Ark provides a loving home for unwanted, abused and orphaned animals and children. They are a non-profit organization that operates their facility with a foundation on God’s unconditional love. Visitors are allowed to leave tax-deductable donations during the visit, which we gladly did. Their grounds are very well kept and their service is impeccable. They even have an outdoor eating area equipped with grills, shade trees and tables plus a newly built playground. This would be a wonderful place to take your family for a day out or even to have a small outdoor birthday celebration. If you want to find out more information about the facility you can visit their website at www.noahs-ark.org.

As parents, it’s important that we expose our children to many different types of experiences. People often feel that doing so means spending lots of money, but if you put on your thinking cap and utilize internet resources, you will be amazed at what you can find. I’m so happy to have found Noah’s Ark, and the fact that they are a Christian-based organization was just icing on the cake!

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (www.savedmom.com), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to contactsavedmom@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M

The After Labor Aftermath

Ok, so most of my long-time readers have heard me talk about the “things they never warned us about before having kids” subject. So here we go again… Now I know that after giving birth our bodies go through a major adjustment period, especially for those of us that decided to breastfeed. Well, here I am several months out from giving birth and why do my feet feel like they belong to a 60 year old!?!

First off, let me back up for a minute. Most of you don’t know this, but my feet have been way too big for most of my life. Since my teen years I have sported a lovely size 10 shoe, yes, you heard me correctly, a size 10! So a few weeks ago I had been wondering why my shoes were fitting way more snug than normal and one of my friends suggested that my feet may have grown during my last pregnancy (which is actually pretty common). Of course that’s the last thing that someone who already wears a size 10 wants to hear. At first I thought to myself, “no way, can’t be…,” then after much contemplation I decided to go to the shoe store to get my feet measured and guess who is coming it at an “almost” 10 and a HALF!

As if that wasn’t’ enough I still have been left to wonder why my feet and ankles have been enduring so much pain lately. Well, I did a little research and realized that it may be a major calcium deficiency due to the fact that I am loosing lots of calcium while breastfeeding. Who knew? I mean it makes completely perfect sense, but nobody warned me that this could happen. I have since taken the necessary precautions to beef up my calcium intake.

It really is amazing just how much having a kid can change you. It could be mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually or all of the above. Although one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t trade in my bigger feet or aching ankles and feet for the gift of my little ones. God has given us children as a gift and reward. Psalm 127:3 reads, “Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.” So let’s never take our gifts for granted. Here's to bigger shoes and lots of mommy love!

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (http://www.savedmom.com/), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to contactsavedmom@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M

Identity Crisis

I have been in deep contemplation about my future lately. It seems that since the first trimester of my last pregnancy up until recently I have been in mommy/wife mode overdrive. Meaning that, my primary life focus for the last year has been kids and home life. I had such a “consuming” pregnancy, to put it lightly, and of course the last few months have been primarily focused on the newest addition. Although, as of late all I can think about is getting back to the “grind” of making things happen for myself professionally. When I start having these thoughts I feel a bit guilty because my baby is still so young, but then I wonder if the timing is ever right.

It’s just that these days and weeks are so precious and I can never get them back. Also, I really don’t’ want to have someone else “raising” my kids and catching all their milestones before I do. I know that this is a dilemma that many mothers are faced with and I praise God for the blessing I had of being a work at home mom with my son and now a stay at home mom with my daughter. Although, being a stay at home mom does mean that we have to be a lot more conscious of our budget and we definitely have to forgo some of the extra’s in life. However, it is so worth it when I wake up every morning not having to worry about rushing off to work and leaving my baby with someone else for 8-10 hours.

I just don’t know how much longer things will remain this way and the yearning for growing myself professionally is pulling on me stronger and stronger with each passing day. I am currently in the process of weighing my options in a way that I can kind of have the best of both worlds, which would mean splitting my time between staying at home with the kids and working. I would have to tailor my work hours around being able to be a part-time stay at home mom.

I am seeking God on revelation as to how to make this work. It’s amazing how being a mother means constantly sacrificing in the best interest of your children. I would love to hear some of your stories as to how you made it work. Please feel free to comment at www.savedmom.com at the bottom of this post in the “comments” section.

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (www.savedmom.com), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to contactsavedmom@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M

Picking With Purpose

I have been on a mission to think of new and exciting, out of the box things for me and my family to do together lately. So, several weeks ago we went blueberry picking! I know it may sound kind of lame and boring, but oh contraire, it was so much fun.

Due to the fact that we were in the midst of the hottest point of the summer we left home around 8 am so that we could enjoy picking before the temps reached the 90’s. After an hour drive we finally made it to the little blueberry farm and off we went. We secured our buckets for picking and headed out to the rows of different species of blueberries. We didn’t know that because it was so late in the season, we would have to work super hard for our blueberries! All of the outer bushes had been well picked earlier in the season so we had to reach far into the innermost part of the bushes to get barely a hand full of berries each time. Well, after an hour of picking the baby and I went to rest in the shade while hubby and little boy blue (my son) stayed to pick some more. They stayed out about another hour and needless to say after two hours of steadfast picking we left with almost 5 pounds of blueberries!

It felt so rewarding to “pick” our own berries to bring home and devour. I made several batches of muffins and I’m still making smoothies with the frozen berries – Yummo! When I sat back and reflected on the berry picking trip I thought about how God has hand-picked each of us to do something uniquely special. Just like the blueberries that we picked, each of us comes in different shapes and sizes but we were all made by him.

We should teach our children just how special and unique they are in God’s eye. As parents we have such a major impact on our children and how they view things. I want to make sure that my children know that no matter what faults or idiosyncrasies they have, the fact still remains that they are special and were picked by God himself to do something amazingly wonderful with their lives.

Last week my son learned this bible verse in school, “All things were made by him…” John 1:3. This includes each of us. We were made by him and God makes no mistakes. We were made exactly the way he intended for the purpose that he designed, so let’s make sure our children walk in their purpose and live with purpose on purpose!

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (http://www.savedmom.com/), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to savedmominfo@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M.

Attention All Subscribers

This is a message to all SavedMom.com subscribers... I am changing to a new email subscription service. Each of you will receive a message in your inbox within the next few days to inform you of the new subscription service information. You must confirm the subscription to ensure that you continue to receive the blog posts via email as they are posted.

I have been seeking God in regards to the SavedMom blog and I am excited to inform you that there will be new and exciting posts coming your way on a much more regular basis. I am excited about the new things that are happening since our second child was born a few months ago.

I appreciate your support of this ministry and I can't believe that the blog has been up and running for going on three years now. I couldn't have done it without your support. Here's to many more years of SavedMom.com!

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know www.savedmom.com, we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to savedmominfo@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mom's Day Out

So in my last entry I decided to surrender to a self-imposed challenge in which I set out to stretch myself to come up with new and inventive ways for us moms to still enjoy our lives while simultaneously holding down the home-front and staying in line with God's word. I figured out a way to put a nice twist on "Mommies Night Out" and converted it into "Mommies Day Out." As some of you know it's not always easy to find a sitter for a night out, especially if you have multiple children, so how about taking a day off while the kids are in school or at daycare and play hooky with a couple of your girlfriends! There's even hope for the stay-at-home moms in this scenario as well. If you check online or ask other moms, local churches and other organizations offer childcare for a few hours during the week in what's known as Mommy's Morning Out or you can find a local daycare that offers drop-in care.

Use your "day off" to hang with the girls. There's such a large array of things to do during the day. Plus, since you're going out during lunch hours, food and entertainment are much cheaper as well. Let me take you along on my last Mom's Day Out, which was so much fun!

I recently went out with my mom and sister. We started our outing by going to Tanger Outlet, which is an Outlet Mall that has amazing deals and discounts on just about everything you can think of. We each picked up a few cost efficient items and enjoyed the bonding time in the process. After leaving Tanger we decided to indulge in a delicious lunch fare at Murphy's near downtown Atlanta. We all managed to have a delicious lunch for only $17 total! You wonder how, well you know me and my coupons. I did a little research before our outing and discovered that all of the Concentrics Restaurants in Atlanta offer a 50% discount in the summer as a part of their Summer Swag promo. All you have to do is go to their website and print out the coupon and Voila! If you are interested, the web address is http://www.concentricsrestaurants.com/.

After filling up our bellies we went over to the movie theater to catch a matinee. We all know that movies are much cheaper before the sun goes down! And since we had just eaten there was no need to spend an arm and a leg for snacks at the snack bar.

So there you have it, three ladies needing a break from the madness had a great day out/off for under $40 per person, including light shopping, lunch and a movie! How about that for a much needed super cheap break from it all. Now off to the next adventure away from the kiddies!

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (http://www.savedmom.com/), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to info@savedmom.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M.

Never the Same

It’s so funny, I sat down today to write about my daughters’ christening, which took place this past Sunday, but the Lord has taken me in a totally different direction! After I put the kids down for their naps I wanted to take few moments to blog, but EVERY time I put my fingers on the key board my daughter began to cry. After putting her pacifier back in about a dozen times I realized that I would have to hold and soothe her for a while. Usually around this time she is fast asleep for at least a couple of hours, but not today.

So, this afternoon I sit and blog in a way in which I never have before, while holding my child! As soon as I placed her in my arms she fell fast asleep. Then it hit me that I had my blog topic for the day all wrong. Therefore, instead of blogging about the christening, which was absolutely amazing, I will blog about the fact that after pushing out two precious babies my life will never be the same. It’s amazing just how much a 7 pound baby can change your whole world! My husband and I were just sitting on the couch two nights ago talking about how having a raising children really changes EVERYTHING!

I can remember those days before kids when we would get up at 10 o’clock at night and go out to eat without a second thought, but now I can’t remember the last time that happened. Even when the kids are away we still don’t operate on the same level of spontaneity that we once did. As I type these words, the Lord is showing me that while enjoying the blessing of parenthood we still must remember to still make time for the other things that make us smile. We must figure out ways to have those spontaneous moments and truly live life to the fullest, just the way God intended. It just means we have to become a bit more creative than before and start thinking out of the box.

I feel a self-imposed challenge coming on! I want to challenge myself to come up with new and inventive ways for us moms to still enjoy our lives while raising and cultivating another. It’s time for me to put my thinking cap on and get the creative juices flowing. Why can’t I have my cake and eat it too? Can I still have girl's night out? Can me and hubby date again? And my, oh my, when was the last time I had a pamper day at the spa? Stay tuned for what’s in store!

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (www.savedmom.com), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to info@savedmom.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M.

Plus 1

I can’t believe that six months have come and gone since the last time I sat down to write a blog entry. I really missed having this time to share with you all. So much has transpired over the last few months. Most importantly I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl! Our family is so excited about our newest addition. She has the most pleasant demeanor and has proven to be a “low maintenance” baby!

It’s amazing just how different each child one births can be. My son and daughter seem to be almost polar opposites, much like my sister and I. As I embark upon the new feat of parenting two children I have already encountered some rather interesting moments, to say the least. There is definitely an adjustment period that takes place, but I sometimes wonder if it will ever end. My husband and I face new challenges everyday as it relates to adding another child to the mix.

I look forward to sharing these challenges and adjustments with you all. I am currently in the process of refurbishing my blogging topics and I am so excited about what is destined to come out of it all. I have a lot to share about the journey that I had during this last pregnancy. God is revealing so many new things to me as I travel deeper into this road we call motherhood.

I am finding myself entering into a new phase of life. Right now my primary focus is on being the best wife and mother that I can be. I am striving to become a Proverbs 31:28 woman. This verse simply states, “Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her.”

Until our next appointed meeting time. Stay tuned for more words of encouragement and inspiration for M.O.M.’s near and far! Please share this blog with as many people as you know (http://www.savedmom.com/), we have so many lives to touch. Feel free to post a comment and/or subscribe (if you are reading this from your inbox visit the site address referenced above to post a comment). If you would like to submit prayer requests send them to info@savedmom.com. Thanks for your continued support!

Mommie Blessings,

Saved M.O.M.