From Chrysalis to Butterfly - the Wonders of Nature

The cycle of life is amazing! Just look at the awesome transformation of the Monarch butterfly.
Our Monarch butterfly in Chrysalis form.

The transformation.

Our beautiful butterfly.

Honoring Whitney Houston's Memory - The Greatest Love of All is Inside us to Live & to Give

As I listened to the Whitney Houston "Home Going Service" today, I was struck by the wealth of love and support in the church.  I wondered if she knew how much she was loved. I wondered how many attending the funeral called her on a regular basis to say, "I love you, I am thinking of you, I am praying for you or how can I help you.  Sometimes, we just assume that our friends and family members will reach out for help if they need it. If a friend has a good job and a nice house, we assume that they have a great life. We measure happiness by beauty, money and fame.

25 Instructional Bible Verses for Children and Parents

The Bible is a fantastic teacher! As good parents, whether we consider ourselves religious, spiritual or even a non-believer, we all have common values that we want to share with our children. The principles of love, obedience, patience,   kindness, forgiveness and peace are all covered in beautiful poetic language. I get excited when I am in a stressful situation and the perfect bible verse comes to mind. Wouldn't it be great if our children could find that internal resource in good and bad times? 

Here are a few of the verses that I learned as a child, which have sustained me into adulthood. Although children may pretend that they are not listening, they remember the words and values that we share with them. We can share them at bed-time, in the car on the way to school or just in daily casual conversation.  

Lesson: Instruction/Obedience

• Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6  
• “My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother” Proverbs 1:8
• Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the lord thy God giveth thee.

Finding Your Happy Place During Stressful Times

How do I handle stress? I eat my favorite comfort foods, which is a grill cheese sandwich and Cherry Garcia ice-cream. Who doesn't love a good grill cheese sandwich and although I am a 95% vegan, there is something very comforting about dairy. I also listen to my favorite music (gospel and reggae) while tackling a huge project, the more stress the bigger the project. This weekend, I was trying to handle my father's illness without having a major meltdown in front of the kids so I decided to renovate the kids's bathroom.

Damn it, I am Alive and I am Happy!

Tree of Life

Are you ready to be happy this year? Are you ready to truly embrace life? I made one resolution this year and it is to write the children's book that I have been resolving to write for the past 6 years. My happiness does not depend on this; if on December 31, 2012, I realize that I failed to get even 2 lines written, it would still have been a happy year.  Happiness should come from just waking up in the morning and finding that we are alive for another day. We should wake up and yell, "I am alive and it is going to be a great day!" Our happiness has become so dependent on whether we accomplish our resolutions or check off all the things on our daily "to do list" that we are constantly waiting to be happy or to find someone or something that will make us happy.