Love and Kindness

Salute to Young Moms

Backstory

With the added duties of sudden home-schooling and the need for daily creative eat-ins, moms have a right to be harried this year. Take time though, to celebrate the magic of motherhood. You have the ability to make it all better. And you do. Thanks for all that.

Click to listen or follow below to read.

Salute to Young Moms- #292

It’s so difficult to be a young mother today. There are so many restraints that require concern and worry. The media’s emphasis on negative happenings can convince you there’s a boogie man around every corner.

How do you teach children to be open and sociable and yet wary of strangers at the same time? Outside forces are influencing your children and they seem to get exposed to less gentle things so very early.

Yet in most families here in the country there is a loving young mother doing her best to counteract the downsides: to make life safe and sweet and secure.; to assure that her children know that they are loved and the benefits of being good, obedient, and respectful.

It’s hard to know how much of an impression you are making. But you know what, don’t stop. Kids learn the lessons you are teaching. They learn from the examples you set by what you do and say. It will serve them well in the years ahead when they have hard choices to make. You are setting their moral compass, and that’s never easy.

To those young mothers, accept this salute for the fine job you are doing as you juggle home, job, volunteering, and most of all caring for your children in helping them to grow and prosper, meeting each day’s challenge.

Thanks for all you do young moms. Never give up. We are counting on you.

P.S.

Young mothers often don’t recognize that there is help available if they are overwhelmed. Moms groups, adoptive grandparents, girls and boys clubs, scouts, church groups, local parks & rec activities and social agencies are worth looking into. They could provide what is needed to get you to the next step.

[Show #292]

Moms and the Calamity

Backstory

This tribute to moms was first written in 2014. The enthusiastic response to this story made it a favorite, often featured in May. This year, the ode to motherly magic is more relevant and deserved than ever. Kudos to the biological moms, the grandmothers acting as moms and all the women accepting maternal duties and privileges, for whatever reason. This tribute is for you.

Click to listen or follow below to read.

Moms and the Calamity- #287

This show is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors . . . and for all the mom who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football or soccer games so they could SHARE that magic moment with their kids.

This is for the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store, and for those who count to ten instead. It’s for the moms who go hungry, so their children can eat. For those who read “Goodnight, Moon” twice a night for a year . . . and then read it again, “Just one more time.”

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school . . . . and for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead. This show celebrates the moms who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot. This for the mothers who gave birth to babies they’ll never see . . . .and the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls “Mom” in a crowd, even though they know their own kids are at home …. or away at college . . . . or have their own families.

Mom is the one who provides a soft landing – no matter how old her children are. Thank goodness moms come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Thank goodness moms are there.

P.S.

By now, moms are tired. They have comforted, encouraged, entertained and sympathized with disappointment for weeks now. Your efforts are helping every family member to make it through, Mom. It may not seem appreciated now, but in the future, when they look back at this time, they will remember your courage, determination and resilience. Even when things get tense, you manage to regroup and endure. You are awesome.

[Show #287]

One Word

Backstory

The words you choose define you. But what if you were only allowed one word to describe someone. How would you choose just one?

Click to listen or follow below to read.

One Word – #614

At my surprise birthday party, they did something you might want to consider if you are arranging a celebration. It’s appropriate for a birthday, wedding, any special occasion where dozens of people are gathered.

Guests were advised, in advance, that at the party, they would be asked to say one word that describes the honoree. No speeches; just one word.

With 70 people at my party, there were a lot of words. It was delightful, funny and sometimes slightly embarrassing to hear the word each person chose. It was also extremely personal, conjuring up a special connection with each person.

My daughter and her daughter jotted them all down. I thought that was nice because I’d have the words on paper too. But my granddaughter had something else in mind.

She input all the words to the computer and used her digital skills to create a graphic using each of the words that had been spoken by the guests.

What a precious memento Krista created. The framed graphic sits on my bookcase where I see it often and smile. And on a rainy day, or when I’m feeling inadequate, I read those words and feel lifted by the love they convey.

Thanks to every person who has ever spoken or written a kind or gentle word to someone else. You have given a gift far greater than you can imagine, especially when it’s remembered on a rainy day.

P.S.

Sharing a happy thought, giving a complement, gifting someone with a smile. It only takes a moment to execute and it can make someone else’s day. That would be nice.

[Show #614]

Great Love

Backstory

I can remember the day I turned to God, begging Him to give me a sign about which way I should go. I was facing a big decision with seriously conflicting pros and cons. I heard a voice in my heart reassuring me and promising, “When it’s right, you will know.” And I did.

Click to listen or follow below to read.

Great Love – #164

Its been said that great love and great achievement both require a great risk. Certainly true. When you love greatly, you are most vulnerable. Your heart is open to joy and also heart break. Who knows which it will be? But as someone once dear to me said, “I would not have wanted to miss the dance.” Well, that too requires opening yourself to scrutiny.

Consider what the candidates went through in the recent election campaigns. How many of us would be willing to put our entire life’s history on the line for interpretation by anyone who wants to voice an opinion. It takes courage and determination, to say nothing of the risk that it may be, all for naught if you’re not chosen.

Do you have the courage to take great risks? The payoff could be great love or great achievement.

P.S.

When it turns out you made the right decision, be sure to appreciate the outcome. Don’t ever take it for granted. Treasure it each day and give thanks for the gift of wisdom that guided your decision. And if it does not work out, have the courage to make a change again. This time too, the outcome could be great love or great achievement.

[Show #164]

Told to Donate Blood

Backstory

It was a trying time for the whole family. One child desperately ill, the other anxious beyond words to help his little sister. Then he found out he could help.

Click to listen or follow below to read.

Told to Donate Blood – #169

Betsy was just a little girl. She suffered from a rare and serious disease.

She desperately needed a blood transfusion and her five-year-old brother was the right blood type. The doctor explained that what they were going to do and asked the little boy if he would agree to give his blood to his sister. Looking lovingly at little Betsy, he replied, “Yes. I’ll do it if it will save her.”

As the transfusion progressed the little boy was happy to see smiles on his parents faces as they looked at the color return to the little girl’s cheeks. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a tiny trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?”

Well, the doctor was taken aback. Then he realized, the child thought he was being asked to give all his blood. He was willing to die to save his sister.

Unconditional love. It’s all around us. Sometimes more visible than other times.

P.S.

It doesn’t necessarily take such a dramatic incident for unconditional love to surface. It shows when care giving requires repetitive work, and it’s done with patience and smiles, yet again. It shines through endless lunch sandwich making or vegetable slicing or encouragement about squeaky, off-key notes during practice. It’s all unconditional love, probably unrecognized but hopefully appreciated, even if not for years to come.

[Show #169]

Youthful Sponge

Backstory

I was thinking about the various phases of life and how they come and go. Rather than considering it myself, I thought I’d discuss it with you.

Click to listen or follow below to read.

Useful Sponge – #18

What do you remember about your youth? I remember being a sponge. Soaking up everything around me, trying out different styles. In early times, the sponge soaked up someone else’s look, mannerisms, and values. I wanted to look like this movie star, or sound like that rock star.

Then do you remember coming into your own? What age was that for you? When you took control and decided for yourself how you wanted to look, sound, think, love, behave, distinctly from those around you.

That coming of age was a wonderful revelation. When you actually drop the adaptations and created yourself. Here you are, years later. Are you still that person from your early adulthood? Or have you reinvented yourself more times over the years?

If there’s anything you don’t like about what you’ve created, change it. There’s still time. Every day you live is a chance to get better; a chance to change.

Be a sponge again. Try out new habits and new looks. Take up new past-times or passions. Soak up the joy of the day and make it your own.

P.S.

The latest adventure we are considering is Road Scholar – education-infused travel for adults. We can choose from 6,500 educational tours in all 50 states and 150 countries. Wow!

[Show #18]

« Previous Page