Pay It Forward

A very moving & powerful story:



Children are so amazing, they are in touch with their spirit and heart. It is so wonderful when we give sincerely with our heart and see it multiply in ways we could have never imagined!

Amazing Mother's Advice

A New Place to Visit

I found a new blog recently which I've enjoyed visiting on a regular basis. It's called Discoveries of Grace, and I encourage you to check it out. I love the simplicity of it, and the straightforward recognition of God's presence in everyday events and activities.

Mom's Advice

What I really like though, is that she has dedicated a page to share the wonderful advice her mother gave her. I'll give you a taste, but then you have to go there and read the rest for yourself.

Top Ten (12 actually) Things She Learned from Her Mother

1. She always told me that love is the only thing that really matters. You can lose your possessions, your job, and your health, but you can always hold on to the love. And at the end of your life, when you look back, it’s the only thing that makes life worth living.
2. Decorate your house with bookcases, because you can never have too many books! Nothing ever seems as bad if you can curl up with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa (with marshmallows).
3. Class is not determined by money or social position; rather, a truly classy person is one who goes out of her way to make others feel comfortable and special. Classy people are warm and gracious.
4. You’ll never get old if you are always interested in other people and continue to learn new things.
5. Life isn’t fair. But that doesn’t mean it can’t still be good, even wonderful, if you keep a sense of gratitude and remember what really matters.
6. God does not send us tragedy and pain. But he does give us the strength to bear them, the courage to face them, and the grace to learn and grow from them.

This is only half of the list so please visit "top ten things I learned from my mother" at Discoveries of Grace, and maybe you'll find some other inspiring bits along the way.

Mother's Always Worry

My daughter called me last night to tell me her big news. There has been a lot of big news lately, most of it good. She informed me that she had received the scholarship she applied for to spend her fall term in Vietnam. "Great!" I said, hoping that my nervousness did not leak through my words.

"Are you happy?" she asked. "Of course", I said, "but you know I'll worry, I'm your Mom." My daughter is 22, in her third year of college, and she's engaged to a really great guy. She's an adult, I know mentally, but I just can't completely wrap my heart around that yet.

I was traveling the world when I was 18, by myself, but I never thought about how worried my parents might be. At least my daughter is going with a group of students, there is a curriculum and a professor. She traveled to London two winter's ago on a mini-term and all went well. She traveled to South Africa a year before that with a service program during her winter break, so she is a seasoned traveler. Why do I worry?

Maybe because I grew up during the Vietnam war era, ghost feelings from my childhood. Of course I know how much the country has changed since then. I've had the pleasure of being acquainted with many Vietnamese people here in the states too, quite lovely people. Technically I have no problems with my daughter's travel and education plans. I'm just her mother, there's always that feeling of concern; the knowledge of the dangers in the world that could possibly hurt my child.

I don't know how the mother's of soldier's cope; they must have great faith. I am also a person of faith and I know I can calm my fears with prayer. I generally am not a person who dwells on fear or worries a lot, but I am a mom and that heart of concern for my children will never go away. In my mind I imagine that's how God feels about humanity, always concerned, always wishing they will come home safely.

Blessings to you and yours, please feel free to comment.

Spammers Be Gone!

What is going on with all the spam these days? Why is the spam filter not blocking all of it? Is Blogger going downhill?

I Am Getting Fed Up With It!

Are you having the same problem? I have heard from some other bloggers that they are having the same problem. I don't have this problem on my Wordpress sites. Is it time to switch? I'm asking these questions seriously because I want to know what other Blogger users are experiencing, have you found a solution or are you fed up with it too?

Comparing Platforms

Why do I use both Blogger and Wordpress anyway? I did it in the beginning to compare the benefits of each and find which one I prefer. At first I was able to grow a following faster on Blogger. Later I realized that my following on Wordpress was more real in terms of interaction, leaving comments etc. I get more pageviews on Blogger but recently too much of that is coming from spammers. I enjoy the different creative possibilities of both so I have continued to use both.

Please tell me how you are dealing with the spam issue and what do you think about switching to wordpress?

New Look New Life

It's a start, but I'm not done yet. Tell me what you think, I'm open to valid critique that will help me build a better blog. I'd like to clean up the sidebar a bit more, and I'm thinking about reducing the size of the header.

In the past Heart to Heart at Home was all about parenting stuff, and that content will always be here in the archives. However as my life transitions from a nest builder to a post-nester I'm going to focus on what's relevant to me now in the world of heart and home. All parents and families have to face the empty nest syndrome at some point, so I hope others in a similar stage of life will engage in dialogue with me. I also hope it will give fair warning to parents who aren't thinking about what happens after the kid's grow up.

These are turbulent times in my home so it's actually hard to focus. What's important to me is that I continue to be a supportive resource to my kids as they transition into their adult lives, while getting back to some of the personal goals I've put off while raising a family. Because I'm getting older my health has become a greater concern. Because I cherish my family and all the wonderful memories, and because I'm a photographer and digital crafter, I'd like to focus on creating digital scrapbooks. We'll see if I have time for that last one.

I also work outside the home, I actually work in other people's homes taking care of the elderly. Will I include that? I don't know, it's all new territory to me. Please feel free to leave your comments.