Thought for the moment,

Giving an honest answer is like giving a kiss. {Proverbs 24:26}

Hmm that is an interesting proverb. Something to ponder, especially considering that the opposite would be a deceitful answer and a smack in the face. Being honest, for me, is one of the most important characteristic a person can have, and I hold it as a very serious and joyful matter, much like a kiss. Honesty and kisses are both something to guard and protect. Holding firm and remaining true to our first love.
http://aponderingheart.com/blog/

Hope you are in the middle of a great day.

With all the hubbub going on in the etsy forums, I am rethinking my online venues. My presence on etsy is like a f*rt in the wind. Especially with google and the seo there in such a mess.

As always, hoping today finds you with your heart dancing because of all of the wonderful blessings you have recieved. That's one thing about God, He is not short on His blessings- sometimes we just need to open the eyes of our hearts.

~Nora

Before I was a Mom...

As Mother's day approaches, I'm sharing an old favorite poem for your enjoyment and a few more gift ideas.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42693182

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 cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. 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 - Pooped on - Spit on - Chewed on, or Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and My thoughts. I slept all night.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41752815

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 couldn't 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.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30649006

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 in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known The warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.
 

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=44123268

Thinking of Mother

Women know the way to rear up children to be just. They know a simple, merry, tender knack of tying sashes, fitting baby-shoes, and stringing pretty words that make no sense. And kissing full sense into empty words.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Oh the Victorians, and their impossibly idealistic world. Amazing that they clung to such refinements and dreams in the face of disease and hardships. Rearing up children goes far beyond those frirst enamored months of 'kissing full sense into empty words'. Mothers are commandos. Days on end in the trenches with no sleep and a feverish child, and the rest of the troops to attend to. Mountains of all kinds, laundry, dishes, toys to scale and conquer on a daily basis. Plus tying the merry sash...

Gift idea...

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. Elizabeth Stone
Truer words were never spoken. There should be a big and and the rest of the sentence should read, "and the woman herself will forever lose herself. At least I found that to be true, even to this day, I am a magnet. If I have a thought to be isolated or independant I hear that 3 letter word...mom. The force that is stronger than nature, my child saying...mom!

Gift idea...

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. Abraham Lincoln
It's such a testament to the character of a man when he realized the sacrifices and love that a mother can sometime give. I am always amazed when men honor their mothers in any way, it is very rare in 2010. I also believe mothers have changed some since Lincolns day...mothers are the breadwinners now all too often and do not raise their children, they drop them off in child care to be raised. Different world.

Gift idea...

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. Oprah Winfrey
I have to say I agree with her, (even if she is one of my least favorite in general). There are lots of people who have a nuturing spirit, and tons of patience and the capacity to love beyond all bounds. And there are biological mothers who just don't give a rip. But it makes us better people when we act on our love, and put our children first even if we lose ourselfs in the process. Lots of us try, daily.

Gift idea....

Food for Inspiration, the Five Solas

It's so funny, I've heard these all my life but never really thought much about them. These are big in the Formal Church, but I hear them tossed in conversation at times too...sort of sprinkled in, just lightly enough for me to grasp their meaning by the context that they were used, not that I can understand Latin. They carry weight in the sentence, they are lyrical and grab your attention, even for the lay person.

Well they have a name, they are the Five Sola's and they are Christian practices/beliefs that contradicted the prevailing Church around the time of the Reformation, 1517.

1 Sola scriptura
     ("by Scripture alone")
2 Sola fide
     ("by faith alone")
3 Sola gratia
     ("by grace alone")
4 Solus Christus or Solo Christo
     ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")
5 Soli Deo gloria
     ("glory to God alone")

The Five solas are five Latin phrases that emerged during the Protestant Reformation and summarize the Reformers' basic theological beliefs in contradistinction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of the day. The Latin word sola means "alone" or "only" in English. The five solas articulated five fundamental beliefs of the Protestant Reformation, pillars which the Reformers believed to be essentials of the Christian life and practice. All five of the "solas" implicitly reject or counter the then prevailing status quo, the Catholic Church, which had, in the various reformers' minds, usurped divine attributes or qualities for the church, its hierarchy, and especially, its head, the Pope.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_solas

What started me on this quest for some info on the Sola's was a blog signature, signed cryptically (to me at the time, pre googling) signed "Soli Deo Gloria"  oo00oo...that got my attention.

"Soli Deo gloria is one of the five solas propounded to summarise the Reformers' basic beliefs during the Protestant Reformation; it is a Latin term for Glory to God alone.
"SDG" at the end of a G. F. Handel manuscriptThe doctrine states essentially that everything that is done is for God's glory to the exclusion of humankind's self-glorification and pride. Christians are to be motivated and inspired by God's glory and not their own.
The Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach appended the initials "SDG" to the musical manuscripts of each of his cantatas [1] and many of his other works. This dedication was also used by his contemporary George Frideric Handel (see image on right)."

That is interesting to note that the composers were initialing "Soli Deo Gloria" to their manuscripts.
The 16th century Spanish mystic and poet St. John of the Cross used a similar phrase, Soli Deo honor et gloria, in his Precautions and Counsels.

I find them inspiring! Art to come, maybe an angel series!

Wishing you many blessings this peaceful glorious Sunday and hoping you are walking closely with God.