BEFORE I WAS A MOM Author Uknown

Before I was a Mom - I made and ate hot meals. I had unstained clothing. I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom - I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom - I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on, wet on, spit on, chewed on, or pinched by tiny fingers.

Before I was a Mom - I had complete control over my thoughts, my body, my mind. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom - I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests, or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom - I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I could not stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up every ten minutes, in the middle of the night, to make sure that all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderfulness, or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

KNOWING MY WORTH Author Unknown

"Each one of you is a Son of God because of your faith in Christ Jesus" - Galatians 3:26

Even as a child, this counselee of mine did not receive enough praises or encouragement from her parents and siblings. Only criticisms when she erred. Naturally, her self-esteem was damaged. And it took its toll in her married life.

Now, her husband gone to another woman, she lives as a single mother to two kids and she is struggling to find a way to support them - both materially and emotionally. In our sessions, I focused on her self-esteem because I knew it was her low self-worth that made her repeat harmful behavior patterns, which is her real problem. She has to realize that she was a child of God. And this means she is loved.

The root of all codependency is a love hunger, which can be filled by the Lord mainly.

That is why there is hope for those of us with a broken past. A good grounding in the Lord will see us through.

LOCKED DOORS By Sally I Kennedy

The door slammed shut. We were having dinner, and even with the animated chatter I could hear it bang closed.

When we have family get-togethers, it's a fun time for the kids to turn the workshop room into their clubhouse. Handwritten signs soon decorate the door: "Keeep Out!!", "No girls allowed", "boys only".

I headed back to check things out. Although we have a 'management rule' about locking doors, that sometimes seems to get ignored. Sure enough, the clubhouse door was locked. They were having a great time. The cookie stash was in one corner, and they were making all kinds of spy and stakeout plans, very busy indeed.

In our lives, don't we too, have locked doors? Places we have unknown secret desires, hopes, hurts? Locked away. Kept at bay, unspoken. When I think about that, I realize that is true for myself.

Still, God is the God of the breakthrough. He can step into closed off, locked doors and areas in our hearts, and in our minds. And when He does, He says, "Peace be with you". Peace be with YOU.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come today through locked doors, even those we may not realize we have. Thank You for coming with a breaker anointing, love, and healing. Amen.

A BUSINESS PERSON'S GREATEST REWARD by Francis Kong

One night a wife found her husband standing over their newborn baby's crib. Silently she watched him. As he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism.

Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening she slipped her arms around her husband.

"A penny for your thoughts," she whispered in his ear.

"It's amazing!" he replied. "I just can't see how anybody can make a crib like that for only P450.00! (Made in China !)"

It's amazing to see how certain people cannot detach themselves from the business life they live even when they are alone with their family.

Last Saturday was no ordinary Saturday for me.

There was no speaking engagement for me on that day and that is very rare.

Weekends are the first to go in my calendar. Business companies would invite me to do out-of-town talks for their people and schools would invite me to do parenting or faculty development seminars and I enjoy doing it. But last Saturday got me doing something else. I had to do a "superman act." I had to stand as one of the primary sponsors in two weddings that were just two hours apart. And that's not the only
challenge I had. I had to show up in both wedding receptions notwithstanding the fact that one was in the Ortigas area and the other one in Ermita! Somehow God is merciful. Things turned out right. It was stressful but it was fun.

I did it not because I had to do it but because I wanted to. The parents of the newly wed couples are dear friends of mine. Both Romy and Tenny Menorca as well as Guillermo and Rebecca Go are very dear to me.

The two weddings featured a lot of contrasts. One was held in a Catholic church the other one Evangelical. One was heavy in ceremony while the other one was deep in Scriptures. The Menorca 's have wonderful sons (no daughters) while the Co's have wonderful daughters (no sons). One wedding motif required male sponsors to wear the traditional Barong while the other one was strictly coat and tie. You should know that by now, I have developed the wonderful skill of changing clothes inside my car on my way to different functions and occasions.

Now let me tell you what I saw common with the two weddings.

Both weddings were beautiful.

Both wedding receptions were grand and majestic.

You should have seen both the newly-wed couples, they look stunning.

You should have seen the parents, they all looked so proud and happy.

Both weddings packed a lot of joyful tears and merry laughter.

But the one most important common thing I see in both weddings is this: that the kids and their parents are close to each other and they love each other deeply.

Now this is the business person's greatest reward: to have a successful family and to be able to support the children and usher them not just down the aisle but down the path of having their own successful families as well.

So many business people I know are not blessed with this kind of success.

They rush down the aisles of career or business accomplishments and many of them actually achieved their goals only to turn around and see that the roads getting there have been littered with a lot of family casualties along the way. The most tragic moment comes to a person's life when that which one thinks would deliver the ultimate success leads to disappointment and defeat.

You know you're there when this haunting thought nags you: "Is this all there is to it?" But here is how to avoid them:

The warning signs are clear when you hear yourself saying, "But I'm doing this for the family!" You have to stop for a while and seriously ask yourself whether you are indeed doing it for the family or are you doing it for yourself?

Another warning sign is this. You begin to miss your kid's ball games, their recitals, their plays... their birthdays... and you're not interested in attending those corny parenting activities in school.

Now be careful! The "Red Alert Warning"... "Code Red"... comes when you begin to say, "I deserve some happiness of my own...." This is extremely dangerous. This is when stupid decisions are made and you begin to dig a hole that will only get deeper and deeper.

We always pay for the choices we make.

You can fail in your business and you can fail in your career but if you have a successful family then you are still successful.

Take care of your family. Make sure that they are your partners in what you do. Share with them your victories as well as your defeats; your joys as well as your regrets. Be a significant part of their lives and make them conscious of their spiritual walk as well. While I was sitting there listening to the priest and the pastor delivering their message they were both correct when they said, "Unless the Lord builds the house the laborers build in vain."

My last piece of advice is this. Perhaps this is the strongest piece. The best thing you can do for your kids is to love their mother.

THICKER THAN WATER By Sally I. Kennedy

Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. Hebrews 2:11

"Blood is thicker than water". That's an _expression I've heard all my life. "When the chips are down, you can count on your family."

My parents taught us that our family may not like or approve of what we do, but they don't throw in the towel, walk away, and disown us. When the chips are down, even if friends desert you, family will stand by you. Others can help, but family, relatives, kinfolk ...it's best to turn to them if at all possible.

It is very cool that Jesus is twice a blood relative. First, we're both children of Abraham. Second, He sacrificed his life and shed his blood on Calvary, making it possible for us to be reconciled to our Father God. In fact God adopted us, making us brothers and sisters with Jesus. Family.

The church universal, the body of Christ, is our family, too! There's an old Gaither song that goes something like, "....I've been washed in His goodness, washed in his blood; joint heirs with Jesus as we travel along, we're part of the family, the family of God."

Last summer I received this email from a friend in Michigan: "The family reunion is well under way this whole week. All 30 of us park on our dock and eat from our kitchen. While it has been nice I am ready to say so-long. Our golf cart was driven into a creek by a nephew ( that was on my side), one of my nieces broke the boat key in half ( my husband's side). Two nephews collided in jet skies and damaged one completely.. ..thank God not themselves too badly. Oh family life!"

Regardless, family is beautiful. The Bible encourages, in chapter 6 of the book of Galatians... ...as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Blood brothers and sisters in the Lord. Thank God, blood IS thicker than water, and exceedingly priceless.