Faith & Encouragement

Can a Woman be an Effective Leader? YES!!

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

I was recently watching a show, yes a reality show…lol, where a group of women was discussing the roles of women and men. The majority of the women felt that women cannot lead as well as men. The consensus was that women were too emotional to be in powerful leadership positions.  However, one of the women in the group thought that the idea of women being too emotional to lead was absurd.

What do you think? Are women too emotional? I believe that women can be just as effective as men in leadership roles. My take on these women that were discussing this topic is that maybe they do not feel that they have the qualities to be an effective leader. Perhaps these women are too emotional. Whatever the case, one should not transfer how they feel about themselves to a whole gender. I have a son and a daughter and I do not plan on raising them to believe that my son can accomplish things that my daughter can not.

Last year my family attended a Lego competition for my oldest niece. She was the only girl on her team. Each team programs Legos to perform certain tasks. I know at times she may have been pushed aside and overlooked but she stood up for herself and not once did she think she could not contribute to her team as much as the other members. I was very proud of her. This is how we should feel as a gender.

I read somewhere that among the Fortune 500 companies 23 have female CEOs. That is less than 5 percent. When will we see equal amounts of women in these male-dominated boardrooms? Do woman respond better to male leaders? Do men respond better when there is another man in charge? I don’t know the answer to these questions but I do think it is a problem when women feel that women cannot be effective leaders. What are your thoughts?

~Tricia

Making Your House a Home

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment
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Our Hallway

How long did it take your to make your house your home? So far it has been about 17 months for me. I have so many ideas for making our house a more cozy place but finding the time is difficult. I want to add pictures and personal touches here and there.

When we first saw our current house the previous owners had staged it wonderfully. I do not know how they did it with four children. They removed all personal touches so I never had any ideas or inspirations when it came to adding my personal touch. Look at our hallway for instance. I really want to do a photo wall on the front right wall. I have the frames but I have not picked the photos or laid out how I want the frames. What have you done to make your house a home? At the end of the hallway my husband wants a picture painted on the wall of a dock and water. It would give the illusion of walking toward the dock as you are walking down the hall. We just have not had it done yet. See what I mean about having so many great ideas but not bringing them to fruition.

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Some of our decor

My goal is to have everything done by our two year anniversary in our house.  By then it will truly be our home. I have added some pieces here and there but pictures is really where I am lacking.

I go on pinterest and see all of these beautifully decorated homes and get ideas I should start a dream book of some sort and put pictures and ideas in it.

I don’t know if this is our permanent home but it is where God has us right now.  I want our kids to make beautiful memories and remember it as there first home.

Organizing and decluttering also plays a part in turning your house into a home. As I already talked about in this post I desire a more simple lifestyle. As I clear out things I am sure it will be a more comfortable as well as spacious home for the kids.

Any ideas? I will keep you posted on my progress.

I also need to do something to the landscaping but that will come in the spring.  One step at a time…lol.

~Tricia

In a Funk

/ Patricia M / 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I told my husband that I was depressed. The children were sleep and I just broke down in the living room. He looked at me with a quizzical look and again I said “I’m depressed”. I had entered into a funk that I had never experienced before. I was tired constantly, gaining weight, unmotivated, and short tempered. And you know what? My husband hadn’t noticed. That must have meant that I was not the happy, nurturing, easy going, energetic person that I thought I was. If I was that person then my husband would have seen the changes in me. His reaction made me do some self reflection.

If you were in a funk would those closest to you notice? At some point I traded my smile for a scowl. Sweats replaced nice outfits. And moodiness moved in and kicked my nurturing spirit out. I felt broken. A major part of the problem was not taking time for what is most important to me. Which is my relationship with God. I was no longer spending time on devotions and nurturing my relationship with Christ. My faith has ALWAYS been something that was very important to me.  My husband and I would pray together every morning and I was in church every Sunday, but that is where it ended. I no longer spent one on one time with God. I would get wrapped up in all of my responsibilities of the day and lost sight of the relationship in my life that mattered most.

For those of you who have a relationship with Christ you know what I mean. For those of you who don’t have a relationship with Christ you should try Him for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.  As I said earlier, I felt broken. I am feeling much better now and I am putting the pieces back together. However, I don’t want to put the pieces back the same way they were before. I want to put them back differently and make a new picture. One more beautiful and unique than before.

I have been blessed beyond measure, and I was confused why I felt this way. My husband and children are amazing and my extended family is awesome. We all have a purpose in life and we need to take the time to investigate what it is. Recognizing your blessings is a major step in feeling good about who you are. Know that you are amazing and your achievements are limitless. Laugh often, cry sometimes, and be inspired always.

Next time (if there is a next time) where I find myself in a funk, my husband will notice.

~Tricia

Are We Scared of Failure or Success

/ Patricia M / 2 Comments

When it comes to pursuing passions and dreams what is it that holds us back? Is it truly the fear of failure that creeps into our minds and convinces us that our goals can not be attained? I’m not so sure. I feel like the majority of us, myself included, are actually afraid of succeeding.

That is the only think I can think of. It can not be failure we are scared of because we have already accomplished that by not even trying. We have convinced ourselves that we need to hold on to our dreams and not go after them to protect them. For some reason we believe that we do no have the ability to accomplish what we hope to and by keeping them within us it keeps them safe and untainted.  That’s crazy.  We need to change our mindset.

We try to teach our children to reach for the stars. We nurture their confidence so as they grow they believe in themselves. However, we do not nurture our confidence as adults. At what point did we tell ourselves that the stars are outside of our reach? This can be applied to any situation including weight loss. When we know we do not feel good about our bodies why do we not get in shape? Are we afraid we will not loose weight? Well, again that is already being accomplished by not even trying. So if we actually being to do our best at trying to loose weight the only possible outcome is success. Do you get what I am saying?

Take a look at the imagefailure. I have a copy of it inside of my journal  (click here to read about that journal) to serve as motivation to myself. On top is the way many of us think. We give ourselves the option to fail. Why should I even make failure an option?  On the bottom is how we should think. The only place failure should be is at the starting point. If you stay at the starting point and never make steps to advance then what will you accomplish? Nothing.  However, the moment you start to strive towards your goals then you are advancing towards success.

Like I have began to nurture confidence in my children I am now also going to begin to nurture confidence in myself. If I teach them not to make failure an option then why should I make it an option for me.

~Tricia

The Simple Life

/ Patricia M / 3 Comments

Do you every wonder what it would be like to have a more simple lifestyle.  Not in regards to roles and responsibilities but in regards to “things”. Every time I can not take more than 3 steps with out picking something up I think about that. How would our household be with less stuff?

I see people with children who can live minimal lives. I don’t think I can do just 3 pairs of pants with 7 shirts in my wardrobe, but I do desire a lifestyle where less is more. What do you think? Would you be able to do it? I know I can definitely downsize in clothes. I have already done so when it comes to hair and beauty products.

When I talked to my husband about this and he thought it sounded good but feels that it would be difficult. I am not sure about him but I know I will simplify my things and random things around the house that serve no purpose.

I wonder what my kids would  do if we downsized their toys. You know like all the little random toys that come with kids meals that build up and take up space. Would your kids even notice? I am not sure if mine would. THEY HAVE SO MUCH. After Christmas is usually when I see how much they really have. That is one of the times of the year that we rotate their toys. This year I am overwhelmed. Maybe I just need a better way to organize.

Do you desire a more simple life?

~Tricia

The Perfect Gift

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

My husband gave me the most amazing Christmas present yesterday. A journal. He ordered it shortly before Christmas but it came late.  It was perfect. I think the most perfect gift he has ever given me other than the gift of himself.

The perfect  size and my favorite color. But what makes it even more special is that he personalized it in a very unique and thoughtful way.  On the inside cover he typed out and inserted the following two quotes by Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou.

“If there is a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

~ Toni Morrison

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

~ Maya Angelou

On the inside of the back cover he printed out and inserted several encouraging Bible scriptures for writers.

It was so thoughtful and just what I needed.  And he did not just hand it to me, he presented it. He told me how much he appreciates me as a stay at home mom but he knows that there is more for me to do. He said he not only supports me writing but he BELIEVES in me.  You know tears were just coming down my face. 🙂

This meant so much to me coming from him because in the past when I started a blog and would write posts he was not sure how he felt about me sharing things about our marriage or family (it was this post that I had written…lol). Well for me if I am going to blog I want to be honest about things that I am experiencing and use it to inspire and encourage others. This is my therapy So after that I felt a little discouraged and hesitant about sharing things. 

Recently I told him I wanted to start seriously writing and he was totally on board and thought of this perfect gift to show me his support and love.

He means the world to me!

Empty Bed Syndrome (For Parents)

/ Patricia M / Leave a comment

Since my son Aaron was 17 months old he has somehow found his way into our bed every night. He will go to sleep independently but when he wakes up during the night he comes into our room and climbs into our bed. Sometimes he may wake up at 11:30 PM or sometimes it may be 4:30 AM, it varies.

Aaron will be 2 years old this Friday and our bed feels a little crowded at times. I must admit I have been looking forward to the days when my husband and I have our bed all to ourselves. At least I thought I was looking forward to it. Three times in the past week and a half Aaron has slept the full night in his own bed and each time I found myself missing him when I woke during the night. This morning I woke up and went into his room. He was lying there so soundly. I wanted to pick him up him and take him to our room, but I refrained. I let him sleep, went to the kitchen and poured orange juice into his sippy cup then placed it by his bed for when he woke up. I then went back to my room and waited. About a half hour later he walked in my room smiling as he sipped his juice. He looked like such a big boy. As I held back the tears I said “good morning” and he walked over to give me a hug.

Time has gone by so fast. Especially this past year. I feel like we were just celebrating his 1st birthday and I blinked and now we are about to celebrate another. I guess I feel this way because we had 2 major life changes this year, one is moving and the second being birth of our daughter both which occurred in August. We looked forward to our children growing up and gaining confidence while becoming more independent but at the same time you want them to still be your little baby. So I guess I am suffering from “empty bed syndrome”, I hate to see what I will be like when they leave the nest.:-)

~ Tricia