I'm Back From Conference...

I took a week off of blogging to attend and focus on my church, Praise Chapel Fullerton's Limitless Harvesters Conference. It was my first conference and completely amazing! We had pastors from other PC churches along with our own that spoke and their messages were quite powerful.

On the first night, Pastor Sergio De La Mora spoke about a Limitless Heart and continued the following morning on Limitless Leadership. He made some great points that really stood out to me such as:

• Limitations test your character.
• Everybody wants to arrive but nobody wants to take the trip.
• If you want to grow, you have to be willing to change.
• Everything rises and falls with leadership.
• As soon as you convince yourself that you can't do more, you won't.
• Your future growth is found in your present stronghold.
• Whatever you're afraid to give away is the very thing that is holding you back.
• We need to learn to be competitive without a competitive spirit.
• The children aren't our future. Our future is in the parents that lead their children.
• You reap what you sow.

It's a lot to take in, I know. I took pages of notes while there and I'm so glad that I did. I hope some of what I've written here today resonates and stays with you. I will share more tomorrow...


LOVE & BLESSINGS,
Jaime

Friday Rewind in Pictures...

Summer fun and play at the park...

Mark 10:13-16

New King James Version (NKJV)

Jesus Blesses Little Children

 ¹³ Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” ¹⁶ And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.


MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND,
Jaime

Bedtime Reading...

Last night, I read A Wing and a Prayer to my children and they really enjoyed it. It was very engaging to them which made me happy.

The story is about a little boy Raimundo, who finds a new home, a new hope and a new faith in Christ after losing both of his parents in a raid. After receiving an unexpected gift from a boy that can relate, the life-changing message of Jesus' love is revealed.

It's definitely a great read and I highly recommend it!

And Joshua of course, wanted to read a bedtime story to his siblings, so he read My First Book of Friendship Prayers. It's a little board book offering prayers for friends and very endearing.

After story time, we proceeded with our nightly prayer followed by bedtime. We say this prayer with our children every night before bed...

Our Children's Bedtime Prayer

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should go before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

Amen.


LOVE & BLESSINGS,
Jaime

Wordless Wednesday...

SUMMER.

So unpredictable.

Super hot one week.

Sunny, but cool and breezy the next.

Gotta love that Southern Cali weather!!!

Psalm 8:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁸ The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.

I'm Positive...

Photo from PCFullerton.org

On July 1st, our pastor invited us to join him on a month long FAST - not from food but from wrong thinking. So far it's been an interesting experience. We're currently on Day 16, as my hubby and I decided to start on Monday, July 2nd. You can read the excerpt below...

DAY 16: 
Today we’re fasting from the thought that says, “This problem just never seems to go
away.” It may be a financial problem, an emotional problem or a people problem—but it
stubbornly tells you, “I’m here to stay.”

LET’S CHANGE IT TODAY:
1. The problem is not the problem. The problem is the power that you give the problem.
Numbers 13:33 says, “We became like grasshoppers in OUR OWN sight, so we were in
THEIR sight.”

THINK IT, SAY IT, PRAY IT:
I am bigger than my problem. My little tongue is more powerful than the biggest mountain.
There is a promised solution to every problem I face, and the problem has to move
because God is with me & because I say so, in Jesus’ Name!

If you would like to begin your very own FAST you can download the entire booklet here.


BLESSINGS,
Jaime

Dear Monday...

Dear Joshua,

You are so full of energy and life.

You are a loving child with an amazing spirit.

You love to laugh and make others laugh around you.

You have this infinite love of learning.

Can't get enough of it!

It's summer vacation and your eagerness to learn didn't end when school went on break.

You ask me on a daily basis, without fail, for some lessons.

It blows my mind!

I am so grateful that you are my son.

My hope and desire for you is to never lose your way.

You are a unique, charismatic individual and it has been a great adventure being your mommy.

I love you more than you know...


LOVE & BLESSINGS,
Mommy

A Bowling Party...

Last Sunday we celebrated our oldest son's 12th birthday with a bowling party. It was a small gathering of family and friends after church and still, a lot of fun.

The children had a blast! Our youngest had a couple of mishaps, like dropping a ball on her foot and smashing a finger.

Other than that, a great time was had by all. More importantly, our son had a memorable 12th birthday... We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful child.


HAPPY SUNDAY,
Jaime

Summer Studies: Johnny Appleseed...

Yesterday I stumbled upon a blog offering homeschool freebies, called Homeschool Freebie of the Day. The "freebie of the day" was 3 resources on the American pioneer John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed.

1. You can download a PDF ebook of the vintage book, Old Johnny Appleseed.
2. You can download a MP3 audio file of 30 minute radio dramatization of The Story of Johnny Appleseed from the 1950s program Inheritance.
3. Or you can watch the Disney cartoon version of the story of Johnny Appleseed from the 1950s movie "Melody Time".

I chose to download the ebook onto my tablet and read it to my children on my Amazon Kindle App.

After the story, we streamed the video above, had a discussion on what we had learned and then I gave them some coloring pages and a worksheet (for my second oldest) to complete. My children loved the story of Johnny Appleseed and enjoyed their lesson for the day, which ended with snacking on sliced green apples.

For some coloring pages and printables, click on the resources below:

Coloring Pages
Lesson Plan & Worksheet coupled with Easy Reader Biography (K - 4th)
Worksheet (K - 3rd)



ENJOY,
Jaime

Friday Rewind...

Where do I begin? Let's see... I took the kids over to the park a couple of days this week for some water play. They loved it to say the least because it was so hot!!!

I also got my act in gear and became a cleaning machine this week.

I've deep cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and eating areas, dusted every other day, washed dishes, made beds and vacuumed every day (sometimes 2 or 3 times). I'm finishing up the last of the laundry - everyone's bedding - and will begin cleaning out closets this weekend.

I need to get organized. I'm tired of living in chaos. There's nothing worse than not being able to find something that you're looking for. It drives me crazy! So my solution is to get the house to "A place for everything and everything in it's place".

I definitely have my work cut out for me but this is a huge goal of mine and I will prevail.


HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND,
Jaime

A Great Read...

This book was a great read. While growing up I never really understood why my dad was always so insistent on us doing chores and helping our mom out in the house until now. It wasn't entirely because that was the way he was raised, or how it was back in the day. But, because it is what is written in the bible.


Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you to do the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

~ Ephesians 5:22-24, KJV


Some of you read the word "submit" and you're probably thinking, "what?" I know because I used to think the same way before I understood it. Once you delve further into the book you will read scriptures and the author's life experiences in which they apply. It really put things into perspective for me as a wife, mother and daughter. I know now that my dad was just trying to mold us into the women that God meant for us to be. Before reading this book, I can say without regress that I wasn't the help-meet that my hubby needed me to be.


BLESSINGS,
Jaime

Ms. Indecisive Just Became Decisive...

Over the past school year I've been seriously considering homeschooling all of my children. I've weighed out the pros and cons numerous times and the pros have outweighed the cons.

You see, my oldest child's grades were not up to par for various reasons, one of which was socializing. Another reason was that he hardly asked questions when he didn't fully understand something. That was extremely frustrating to me because while his teacher had been well intended, she just didn't have enough of her to go around to help out her 30+ odd students. When he would get home from school, I'd basically have to reteach him what he should have already learned that day and that made for longer school days and less free time.

My second oldest child did quite well in school however, he would rather be homeschooled. He would get very frustrated when he would go to school and his classmates wouldn't follow their teacher's instruction. She would have to stop what she was doing to deal with the issue at hand and then go back to the lesson.

With homeschool, my children will have me by their side to help them at a moments notice. They will also have no homework that will make for a more enjoyable learning experience. I realize that we may hit some bumps in the road, but I'm really looking forward to learning with my children. My hope is that it will bring us closer as a family then ever before...

Isaiah 54:13

King James Version
(KJV)

¹³ And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.


HAPPY FRIDAY,
Jaime