Tuesday, February 14, 2012 by Denise
What a beautiful way to start this day, Valentines Day. As I woke up my little guy to get started for the day, I said “Memphis today is Valentines Day.” He opened his sleepy eyes, sat up in bed and gave me a huge hug and replied, “Yea it’s ValentiMes Day.” As he slid off the bed I told him to go on a hunt. A Valentines hunt. “Somewhere in the house I hid a Valentines Day bag filled with surprises.” He ran through the living room, looked under the couch, behind the couch, in the kitchen, in his bedroom and finally…he found it. Hidden behind the end table was a bag filled with little toys just for Memphis. Tuesdays with Memphis is his favorite day and how lucky we were that it landed on Valentines, a day meant for love. Inside the bag he found a spider-man paint book, a Charlie Brown book, one large cookie, and a Cars 2 Paddle Ball. Then at the bottom he pulled out a Yo-Yo and he said. “A yo-yo. I’ve been wishing for this.” My heart melted. How simple life is for a child, the little things that make them so happy.
Then our day began as we headed off to yoga. Once again he commented on the unpleasant odor coming from the hot vinyasa yoga class. As students piled around to change sweaty clothes, my child begins to hug me. One students response was, you are hugging her and she is soaking wet. Memphis said, “I hug her when she wet and when she’s dry.” and I’m thinking yep, because he just got a yo-yo. We continued on our way, headed into Whole Foods for a bite to eat and some groceries. Mission completed we headed home. On the way in the back seat I hear the faint sounds of my child singing.
“I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men, I will make you fishers of men, If you will follow me.” That was repeated numerous times and then the verses changed. “I will make you fishers of yo-yo’s, fishers of yo-yo’s, fishers of yo-yo’s, I will make you fisher’s of yo-yo’s, If you will follow me.” “Isn’t it a great day to go fishing?” he asked, ”Yes, I replied. It’s a good day to go fishing.” This child has stolen my heart, and not the physical heart but the heart that goes much deeper, the heart that is more than a muscle.
The heart is the innermost spring of personal life; the source of all thoughts and plans, attitudes and desires, motives and choices; the deep seat of the intellect, emotions, and will. “We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God” (Romans 10:10). However, the condition of a person’s heart is known only to God. To be human is to make judgments based on external criteria: what one believes, how one behaves, and the way one appears. But God sees beneath the surface to the heart of the matter.For example, when the Lord was seeking someone after his own heart to be king of Israel, he sent Samuel to the house of Jesse. After examining all the all the externally qualified candidates, who the Lord rejected, the prophet found a young shepherd boy, David. “God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7) You see the heart is more than a muscle, and Memphis’s heart is too big for this world. And according to him, we’re going fishing for yo-yo’s. Happy ValentiMes Day….We love you all !
Tags: paddle ball games, spider-man costumes, spider-man games for kids, valentine day poems
Posted in Health
Friday, February 10, 2012 by Denise
Since we are only given one day at a time, let’s not waste it. Figure out what is the most important and then MAKE it the most important. Why do we often recognize what is so valuable and important to us yet it’s at the bottom of the list ? For myself I put God at the top of my list and then my family, friends, neighbors. Who is our neighbor? Our neighbor is anyone we come in contact with. Who is our family? This is what Jesus said. Jesus was told that his family was looking for him, and he said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then he looked at the crowd gathered around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants.” We do not question Jesus’ love for his human family, for other passages show it. (Luke 2:41-51). Also, Jesus exhorts us to love and honor our parents, and has no patience with excuses for not doing so. Let us examine the significance of family in the Bible.
The Bible records God’s relationship with the beings in his creation to whom he relates as a father to his children. I believe that we call God Father because He knew that someday this world would be filled with fatherless children. God says, “I will be their God, and they will be my children.”
What is true about human beings is true about human families: They are characterized by the goodness of God’s image in them as well as by sin. The first created family struggled to obey God and failed. They betrayed each other, and Cain killed his brother. From that time forward, the family has been the seat of the strongest emotions and life experiences, a context for scarring, healing, loving, hating, grieving, and rejoicing. Had our original ancestors loved, obeyed, and stayed in conversation with God, their tragedies would have been avoided. In the face of his children’s betrayal, God continues to love, communicate, and require loving obedience.
With respect to the family, we are to honor family because we are commanded to do so by God. We are not to place family before, God, but, rather, God before family The sacredness of family derives from God . Jesus does not ask us to be perfect, he asks that we love him first and follow him. He tells us that the members of his family include the hungry, the stranger, the naked the sick and the imprisoned. The space in the family is not limited. However, the believer who has no parents or spouse or children is neither an orphan nor an outsider, for as the psalmist says, “If my father and mother leave me, the Lord will take me in” (Psalm 27:10) All who love God are welcomed into the family to which Jesus is referring when points and says, “Here are my mother and my brothers!”
This post is written in memory of my loving daughter whose birthday is today, who went into the loving arms of her Father 3 years ago and who always knew how very important she was to our family. We will love you forever, shortcake.
Tags: family values
Posted in Health
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 by Denise
It’s a girls day, as the guys get ready
for New England / New York to play ball.
We won’t have no part of that
we’re going to the Great Lakes Mall.
We had to go without one of our players
’cause Eric took out our girl Cheri.
To celebrate with his beautiful wife
31 years of marriage.
We had to stop at Bar Louie’s
before we could start to shop.
Anne had ordered fish tacos
my Buffalo Chickens too hot!
Then Anne pointed out the guy at the bar
who was sitting all alone.
He was laughing and talking to himself
someone needs to take that man home.
We started to shop from store to store,
with little time we had to cruise.
A shirt, some pants, a necklace and scarf
and some fabulous flowered shoes.
The mall closed at six we had to go
so we had to make one more lap.
We went to the car with all of our bags
headed over to Panera for snacks.
Shopping vs. the Super Bowl
you can come next time if you wanna.
I know that the guys had themselves a good time
and we made it back for Madonna !!
The End.
Tags: fashion trend for teens, fashion trends for celebrities, football, healthy snacks, poetry for kids
Posted in Health
Saturday, January 28, 2012 by Denise
As I was driving Memphis to school the other morning I witnessed two homeless men starting to fist fight on the corner. It was obvious that they were trying to claim territory. One of the men was actually taking off his sign that he had roped around his neck so he could get a better punch. It saddens me yet I am very aware that this kind of behavior takes place in our world. Fighting to stay alive, to eat, to sleep and to make it through one more day. We all can shake our heads and walk/drive on by and pretend we didn’t see it and that is sick. The causes of homelessness are complicated and it isn’t even any of my business why, but it is our business to step up to the plate so to speak. There are shelters out there that can only run with our helping hand. Last year, Shelter of Flint served over 1,300 homeless individuals and family members. The number of homeless individuals is well over 30,000. On any given night in America anywhere from 700,000 to 2 million people are homeless. One out of 50 are children. Right here in Genesee County there are more than 200 individuals living in emergency shelters every night and countless on the streets. If you would like to help, contact the Administrative office to see how you can help. 810-238-4711.
1 Peter 4:7-11 says this : Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide awake in prayer. Most of all love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless-cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it. If words let it be Gods words, if help, let it be God hearty help. That way, Gods bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus and he’ll get all the credit as the one might in everything-encores to the end of time.
Tags: homeless shelters, the Bible, war on hunger
Posted in Health
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 by Denise
Tuesdays have become special days for me and Memphis. We often get ready to head down to my teachers, Memphis in the back seat with a bagel, talking a mile a minute with excitement to play with the children as I know I am going to get my butt kicked in the other room. Last tuesday as the class prior to ours was letting out Memphis stood their and said, ” ewe it smells like bacon”. And I replied, ” It’s because they all got cooked in there.” Ah, the lovely aroma of a vinyasa class as students with their sweat dripping, dragging mats and exhausted bodies yet so pumped-up get ready to meet the day. Memphis then says he’ll just hold his breath as a student near by says, “don’t hold it for too long.” We then head over to Whole Foods where we order food from the deli, grab a few groceries, and head for the drive home. I am so glad that Memphis has been exposed to the wonderful world of yoga !
Tags: breathing techniques, health food grocery stores, kids yoga, yoga mats
Posted in Health
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 by Denise
Here’s a little bit about myself and a piece of what I’ve learned about myself and the practice of yoga over the last 14 years. I don’t believe so much in “resolutions” as I do in “Intentions”. As yoga practitioners, every day is a new beginning, every breath is an opportunity to start again, every person we come in contact with is someone we can share our testimony with. We come to a place at the Samadhi Yoga Center, where judgement doesn’t exist and we take you just as you are, a place that is filled with love and acceptance. Their was a study done that showed out of 100,00 people that 49% said they were unhappy. We are accountable for ourselves our actions our words and our deeds. We get to make choices all day long. As we practice on the mat we get to be witnesses to our own self-transformation and how we make choices on our mat is pretty much how we’ll make choices through out our day, but let’s make sure we make choices that are based on compassion. I believe that we have the ability to make our world a better place to live. If enough people would change their hearts we would radically change our world, but it begins with you and it begins with me. Jump on board. I would like to share with you one of our favorite juices that we make frequently in our home. If you have a juicer or are contemplating purchasing one, this is a fantastic way to put some wonderful nutrients into your body without all the added sugars from store bought juices. Keep in mind I have a 4 1/2 year old that loves this juice.
TRACT TEASER:
1 Granny Smith Apple, 1 Red Delicious Apple, 2 bunches of white grapes, 2 bunches of red grapes, and a handful of fresh cranberries. The primary vitamin in cranberries is vitamin C. with 1 cup offering 13 mg, or approximately 15 percent of your recommended daily intake. Vitamin C adds to the antioxidant properties, helping your cells recover from environmental stress. Viamin C also helps tissues heal following an injury. Cranberries, as with many fruits provide your diet with moisture, as they contain nearly 90% water by weight. This fruit, however, is quite low in protein and fat, contributing less than 1 g of each per cup. While both these macronutrients are essential for good health, the low fat content in cranberries can help you minimixe your intake of calories if you are retricting calories as part of a weight-loss plan.
Tags: health benefit of juicing vegetables
Posted in New Year
