Mom-2-Mom Parenting Tips
Parenting is hard work! We all need a little help!
Visit blog.loavesandfishescoaching.com/ to begin receiving Mom-2-Mom “Ten Tips to Inspire You to Greatness” in your parenting. And then…every few days another word of encouragement will slip into your Inbox until you have received all ten.
(BTW, even dads have been helped by these tips.) š
Awaiting His shout,
Pam Taylor
Christian Life Coach
The MomCourager(TM)
I’m out to change my world. One person at a time!Ā Here’s what I just started doing:
When I go to a store & the clerk/cashier is pleasant & helpful (and appreciates my humor):
1. I ask their name.
2. I tell them that I appreciated their (helpfulness or sense of humor or whatever).
3. I ask them for the name of their supervisor so I can tell the supervisor what a good job they did.
4. I ask where I can find their supervisor.
Then:
1. I seek out the supervisor.
2. (I smile inwardly as they tense up expecting a complaint.)
3. I tell them that I know that they are used toĀ bad reports about employees, butā¦
4. I want to give a good report about (NAME) and that I think the employee deserves some kind of reward because they are good for business!
Then:
1. I watch the supervisor smile and relax a bit.
2. They ALWAYS thank me for taking the time.
I feel so happy after that.Ā It is one little thing that I can do to change my world into a little better place!
Here’s my challenge to you: Will you join me in the campaign to intentionally thank people for good service? Iām thinking that it doesnāt just stop at the employee and the supervisor. Donāt you think it’s a pretty good guess that they will treat everyone else in their path in a much kinder way as a result of being thanked?
You might even notice a bit of a spring in your own step as you walk to your car. And we might even catch you smiling throughout the day as you remember how good it felt to bring a bit of beauty to someone elseās day!
Try it. Itās addictive! The only thing it will cost you is a few minutes of time.
Pass this on and let’s see if we can start a “gratefulness revolution“! ShareĀ this blog postĀ on FB and on LI and with your email lists. Think of the possibilities! š
One person at a time…we can begin to change our world for the better! Are you up for the challenge??? I promise you it will be fun!
Then, use the comment box below to report back to the rest of us. We want to hear your story!
Why do we need revivals? “Revivals are a new surge of spiritual life. The return of something to its true purpose,” says David Jeremiah.Ā
Why do we need revivals? Revivals are not for God. They are for His creation. He knows we are incomplete unless we are complete in Him. So, he allows us to feel empty so He can fill us up.
Many times, our decisions are made in the heat of our emotions being stirred up. Maybe it is a television commercial or an end-aisle store display that causes us to see something and we believe that we just have to have it! The crash of the Target store website over their new product line is proof of that. The resultant anger of the people that were unable to purchase what they saw was a sad commentary on what we have become. Wouldnāt a revival transform our thinking about what we consider to be a life-or-death matter?
Why do we need revivals? How many times have we been to a church service or a seminar and made a commitment in the midst of an emotional setting? How many times do we have to “go forward” in an emotional response before we “really” mean it? Maybe we make plans to be more organized with our time or nicer to our family or we promise to “have devotions” every day as opposed to hit-and-miss, willy-nilly.
How many times do we promise ourselves that we will eat healthy after we see a program on the dangers of making a habit of eating from the fast food lane? How many things do we start with good intentions, only to get shipwrecked along the way and then just plain quit?
Many of our commitments are made in emotional settings for emotional reasons. Then, when the emotion passes, the commitment wanes. David Jeremiah says that he used to “have a revival every summer at camp”. J Can you relate to that? Maybe it wasnāt summer camp for you. Maybe it was a ladiesā retreat, or a menās Promise Keepers event or something similar.
What can we do to prevent our commitments from only lasting as long as the Israelites while Moses was on the mountain getting the 10 commandments from God? Do we see God move in our lives and then go back to our usual pattern of life? Maybeālike the Israelitesāin about 40 days?
Our lives are hectic and busy and itās hard to focus. It is easy to lose sight of what is truly important. It is easy to let the temporal overshadow the eternal and forget why we are here on this planet at this time in history. What does Creator God have in mind for us to be and to do?
Why do we need life coaches? Christian life coaches are especially trained to help you keep that visionā¦that desire to live your best lifeā¦to live in your God-given strengths, rather than in defeat and frustration at not having kept your commitments when you felt revival stir in you. We help you hold that conviction when it begins to wane. We come alongside you as a type of cheerleaderā¦like Barnabas in the New Testament. Encouraging and cheering you on to be your God-given best self. To be all He intended you to be. A coaching relationship helps you maintain your commitment goals.
Letās talk about how that can be a reality in YOUR life! J
Encouragement. The atta boy/atta girl comments. Looking for things that people do well. Looking for their strengths rather than their weaknesses. Just what is the power of kindness?
Weāve all seen the stories on the news of the power of the opposite of kindness. And many of us have actually experienced it or caused it ourselves. The verbal abuse. The āshameā people heap on each other with their words. The āI love (?) you, but ā¦ā The anger. The rage. The bitterness. The unforgiveness. The abuse. Neglect. The tear-filled eyes of those who have been treated as though they donāt matter.
In David Jeremiahās Turning Point Devotional, thereās a story about the father of legendary basketball coach John Wooden. The story is about the power of kindness. In Indiana, where Wooden grew upā¦āGravel pits were scattered around the area, and farmers would often take their mules to the pits to haul out loads of gravel to use in building roads. Some pits were deeper than others, and it was sometimes tough for a team to pull out a wagon filled with gravel.ā
The story goes on to explain that a young 20-something man was unable to force the team of horses to pull that load out of the pit, in spite of his whipping and yelling at them. It was an extremely hot summer day and the horses were worn out. They were frothing at the mouth and they were pulling BACK from the young man. They feared his wrath.
John Wooden’s dad said to the young man, āLet me take āem for you.ā
āThe farmer seemed relieved to hand over the reins. John watched as his dad started talking to the horses and stroking their noses with a soft touch. He slipped between them and started walking alongside them, holding their bridles and bits while talking calmly and gently to them.
āAs the horses settled down, he stepped in front of them and gave a little whistle to start them moving forward as he held the reins. Within a few minutes, those two massive horses had pulled the wagon out of the gravel pit as easy as the sun coming up. John Wooden said he never forgot the lesson.ā
The power of kindness. It works with horses and it works with people.
The devotional goes on to say āNothing good comes from being difficult or demanding. A little love and encouragement can often lift others out of the pits.ā
You know the Bible verse, āWe must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.ā (Acts 14:22 NIV) Have you met anyone that seems to make it their mission in life to actually BE those āhardshipsā to help you to enter the Kingdom of God? Do you have anyone in your life that has a mission to love you with ātough loveā by nearly continually pointing out what is WRONG with you? It doesnāt seem to occur to them to mention what might be RIGHT with you. Our own personal āhardshipā ambassador…thinking they are ambassadors for God to get us “straightened out”.
We must guard against harming one another. We are none exempt for falling into unkindnessā¦especially when we are under any kind of stress or overtired. Any of us can so easily fall into that sin of being a discouragement to others. Abuse. Neglect. Harsh wordsā¦or worseā¦those things that cause tear-filled eyes of despair and discouragementā¦or worse.
God delights when we use our words to build others up rather than tear them down. People need encouragement. We all do. We flourish in the midst of it. Words of encouragement are life giving. They have the power to heal broken hearts. They empower people to think outside the box where they sometimes get “stuck”…unable/unwilling to move “forward”. Words have power. For good or for evil.
The power of encouragement. The power of kindness. Everyone needs someone to believe in them and to tell them so!
Encouragement is the gift that keeps on giving. I just read about a research study that was used to measure the effects of rejection/discouragement. They administered the same I.Q. test twiceā¦to the same group of people.
The first test was administered and graded. That same group of people were then exposed to a period of being rejected and discouraged. That was followed by the second test. It is reported the scores were 25 to 30 points LOWER after being exposed to the negative atmosphere.
As Christians, this is a helpful reminder. Life is hard enough without being energy drainers to the people in our world. Being discouraging and judgmental seems to be a default settingā¦unless we make a conscious choice otherwise.
I find myself wishing that the research people had given the test a third timeā¦after a period of encouragement.
We are called by God to encourage one another, and all the more as the day of Christās return draws near. Giving encouragement is definitely a choice. And we can give the gift of that choice even if we feel the person doesnāt “deserve” it. This is a good place to remind ourselves that when we offer good to someone, Jesus is pleased ā¦He goes so far as to say that He views it as aĀ gift to HIM personallyā¦it is as though we are offering it to Jesus Himself.
Jesus also says the opposite is true. If we fail to give the good, He is not pleased and He views it as failing to bless Him as well.
A Christian coach reminds us to take the higher road. To believe in our skills and talents. Others may minimize us, but a coach maximizes usā¦refusing to focus on what is wrong, but rather to encourage what is skill and talent and good about us. I have noticed that just having that safe place to process my world and to “clear” (without being judgedā¦but rather encouraged to look deep inside myself to find the solutionā¦that solution that pleases the Lord) empowers me to rise above the negativity around me and within me. It is an energy gainer to have a Christian coach. Itās an encouragement to our very soul (our mind, our will, and our emotions).
I can be that safe place for you to discover ways to rise above the negativity and turn those energy drainers into energy gainers. The introductory call is a gift to youāto give you an opportunity to discover the wonderful world of Christian coaching and what it can mean in your life. Questions? Contact me atĀ loavesandfishescoaching.comĀ . We can schedule a timeĀ for a free inquiry call toĀ talk about the gift that keeps on giving.