Let's Forgive

This is the most amazing video about forgiveness. The video speaks for itself...but remember until we unburden ourselves and FORGIVE...even ourselves... we will not heal...we can not move forward. Forgiveness and accepting someone's forgiveness is a humble act.

Greg Olsen Art and Bebo Norman Music Video

I have always loved the art by Greg Olsen. His renditions of Christ grab me and pull me in to the scene. I have one of his prints on my office wall..."O Jerusalem", which has given me strength and comfort in tough times.

So, here is a video gift from ME to YOU....using a the art of Greg Olsen and the music of Bebo Norman. May you be bleesed today and every day!

Change Your Song

"Do you need to change your song today? Instead of complaining and thinking about what you’re not, start thanking God for what you are becoming. Just like David, stay in faith and sing to the Lord knowing that He’s going to complete what He’s started in you." Joel Osteen

It is so easy when life gets tough to allow yourself to get in to a mind that nothing is positive...life becomes a struggle of your making OR that the difficulties that you carry are weighed down further by the negative attitude that you perpetuate.

Stop!

You are doing this to you...no one else can change your perspective except you.

Is it time to change your song? If it is and your are struggling to find the music and the lyrics...maybe it is time to look to God...in Him you can be strong.

PS You may have to view this video at YouTube...please take the time...you will glad that you did.

A Million Hugs

Start your week with a HUG...Pass it on!!!

Owl City - Fireflies

Have you ever heard of this band?

I never did...until my 11 year old was sitting at the computer one day begging me to come listen to a song. She looked up in to my face with eyes filled with the wonder still there, not yet lost in a pre-teen world..."Don't you just love it, Mommy!...I love fireflies...I have always thought fireflies give hugs"

I hope this is not the last summer that she and I share catching fireflies in a jar.....They grow up so fast...and she is my youngest!. It is nice that she is not in as much of a rush as the rest of my other kids were to grow up and be on their own. I am savoring this time.

Enjoy "Fireflies" by Owl City!

GoD And DoG by WJ Francisco

Here is the most wonderful and uplifting video I have seen in a very long time. Please watch and support this wonderful artist by going to her website.

Dr. Christiane Northrup on Needs

Needing to Forgive and Let it go...a must video from my favorite doctor other than Oprah's Dr. Oz. A video clip from her "I Can Do It "Conference in Las Vegas...watch all the clips by subscribing at YouTube.

The Luxury of Being a Mid-Life Stay-at-Home-Mom!

I recently was on a conference call with two women whom I met up with through a social network that will remain unnamed, but I will let you know this…it is a knowledge center for those of us who presume to be Boomers of Authority.

The details behind why we were on this call together is of no importance…all that I will say is that I learned that Stay-At-Home Moms are STILL looked down upon by some women who do NOT stay at home or have no children.

Staying at home was a luxury…not a necessity…I was told! That these two other women had to work!

A husband’s ability to support the family on his one salary allowed the fortunate wife/mother to not seek out paid employment…but to pursue very expensive hobbies and causes.

I was told that I had this luxury!!!

Excuse me! I fear that you presume too much!!

Now, before I go any further…I must explain one thing…this comment was made to me after I responded to the overall topic of the conference call. The two women had come together in resonance over the fact that they were at a point in their life that they no longer wanted greatness or fame for themselves…climb the ladder of success, but rather help people and seek the betterment of man or woman…as long as they were helping mankind…they would be satisfied, fulfilled and complete. In their Mid-life journey they had come to crossroads and believed that it was time for change.

I listened.

When my opportunity to speak came I told them that everything that I was doing on the Internet was for FREE. Getting paid had not been my primary goal…in fact, I was very happy that recently I had been making small amounts of money. In any case, I had been “called” to do what I have been doing at my forum, my blogs and at social networks. I was writing because I love to write. I was promoting others work because I was “called” to lift gifted and talented people up on the lamp stand to allow them to shine! I was not necessarily a coach…I was a Shepherdess…a guide. My journey had only recently brought me to place where I felt worthy to ask for payment for what I offered.

If I got paid…I felt blessed…in fact, an e-mail of gratitude was worth more to me than any dollar payment. The little that I have been making was a blessing too...but the goal was to help others from the beginning…fame and greatness…climbing a ladder of success was not my primary goal.

The silence was deafening.

I thought I had lost the connection, until one of the women said:

“Well, isn’t that nice that your husband makes enough money for you to have the luxury to do that…but I have had to work to make ends meet, as I believe (name left out on purpose) has had to do also……”

The woman continued but I didn’t hear one more word she said as I was in absolute shock…rewind to the beginning of this rant.

In my mind I thought:

LUXURY! Excuse me! I fear that you presume too much!!

You don’t know me or my family’s history or the state of our bank account or circumstances.

You don’t know what I gave up over 19 years ago to support my husband and his military career, what I endured through deployments, what I do NOW to support his second career, what I have done to keep my hand in the business that I love, what I do on a daily basis to make sure that my five children have a safe, secure environment to come home to…I am my children’s 24/7/365 day advocate…AND…NO, we don’t have luxury… Do you know how much it would cost to put five kids in Day care?!!! Or now with teenagers, what kind of trouble they can get into when Mom and Dad are at work (Let me tell you about the family who just got their son out drug rehab or the daughter that just popped pregnant because she and her boyfriend were hanging out at the house alone while Mommy was at work)

We are fortunate and blessed that God provides our daily bread…we struggle making ends meet…there is no excess living in my home. My husband and I work hard…very, very hard, while also following the “call” that was given me five years ago. So…no my dear uninformed friend…YOU assume too much about Stay-at-Home Moms and me!

Suddenly, I was pulled out of my angry thoughts, the connection was silent again…the air still uncomfortable…I quickly made a polite excuse to get off the line and hung up…I was so angry I could spit! I hate confrontation and what would it get me by confronting this woman’s attitude.

I was no longer “resonating” with these women…it was a sign!

This conversation has hung in my mind for weeks now, waking me in the middle of the night that finally I felt that it needed to be written about. So, to all the women out there that work and do not stay home…to those who work hard for the money…I am not ranting at you. You GO, girl!

I’m ranting at those women working or not who have the attitude that we Stay-at-Home Mom’s stay at home because our husband earns enough so that we can…that it is a luxury.

I am working very hard at what I do…but money is not the primary goal…helping people is the goal. We sure could use some extra, I would be lying if I didn’t say this…but luxury is not a word I would use for being a Stay-at-Home Mom…luxury to me would be a paycheck and being able to go and have my gifts and talents appreciated on a daily basis. Instead…I follow the call…knowing that God will provide or the Universe is resonating with what I am doing…however you want to view it.

This is a CyberHotFlash…it’s a rant…it is over until the next one…so be aware!

I'm running 500 miles in chains to stop child trafficking now!

Please watch this moving video from my friend, Eric Profitt. If you are so moved, please go to his web site and join the cause and support his quest to stop Child trafficking. Thanks you

Guest Blogger: Lauren Dance - Heading South

Heading South

by Lauren Dance (Founder of the The Grey Beaver Club)

 

I love to travel. It has become a very expensive addiction, really. My husband and I look forward with great anticipation to every opportunity we get to head south to those indescribable blue waters where the scuba boat awaits. The salty wind, the coral reefs, and the beautiful peace that comes from being somewhere completely different from normal is probably the reason for the addiction. Recently, I was telling a friend that we were thinking of heading south to Cozumel soon for a vacation, and she sighed heavily and asked if she could come along in my suitcase.  

It got me to thinking about the phrase “heading south”, and the positive and negative connotations associated therein. 

Birds fly south for winter, and so do many people. Heading south for a vacation almost always means someplace warmer and much more exotic, an escape from ordinary life.  

Stock that has a sudden decrease in value is said to have headed south. So, what does that mean when parts of my body are spiraling downward at a rate I have no control over? Does that mean that I have decreased in value as well? Hmmmmm….. 

As women, we are bombarded through the media that perky and perfect are the norm, and if our once “perky parts” are now resting on the top of our bellies, there must be something wrong. I will resist this way of thinking. Just as I have always considered the stretch marks from my children badges of honor, I will support all my sagging with positive remarks in front of the mirror and a really great bra. 

If you’ve ever seen an older woman with really great breasts (that are REAL), albeit they are probably a bit lower on her chest than they were in her twenties, there is something very voluptuous and sexy about the way her body looks. And by the way, I don’t think there is anything wrong with telling a woman that she looks great. In fact, I think as womankind, it is our duty to make each other feel beautiful, because the media certainly isn’t going to pat us on the back and say, “Way to breastfeed three children! Wow! Those boobs rolled up into your bra look FABULOUS now!” 

If we all began to look at our bodies heading south the same way we looked at a vacation to Cozumel, I’m sure we as a collective group of women could probably figure out how to reverse the law of gravity, that’s how much extra time our brains would have to concentrate on other matters!  

Let us each find that beautiful peace that comes from being somewhere totally different than we have ever been, and be happy and content with whatever direction we are headed. 

“I look forward to being older, when what you look like becomes less and less an issue and what you are is the point.”--Susan Sarandon 
 



Lauren Dance is the owner of The Gray Beaver Club, 

an online retail store that sells fabulous gifts for 

friends over forty. She is very passionate about 

finding humor in the aging process, and feels strongly 

that surrounding yourself with great friends is the best 

way to happily navigate yourself through this crazy 

journey we call life!

Visit www.thegraybeaverclub.com to purchase gifts that are actually funny!  

Welcome to The Gray Beaver Club….one year closer to dyeing…