Why we shouldn't Judge-Whitney Houston

Tonight, Mommy's I am specially talking to you. Ladies, as moms the choices we make in this life effect our children. God has in trusted us with his children to take the absolute care possible as they are on loan to us. As I read all the comments on Whitney Houston's death, I cant help but to hurt for a young lady that has lost her mom at a young age of 48.

Sure Whitney made choices, but she also had an addiction. We may not be smoking crack or have an addicted to alcohol, but we are all in some sort of addiction or sin that effects our children. Her sin is no greater than the mom who chooses to beat her child, or the mom who is addicted to food, or neglecting her childrens well being by partying, lying, gambling etc.

Sin kills, and bad company corrupts. Period. I realize the only difference from Whitney and my own is that her sin is exposed to the world. I am not on a platform for that. May God help us to make better choices in our lives. May it be our prayer that no matter whatever we do it will be well pleasing to the Lord. Because if it is, there is confidence that it is good for our children.

Losing a parent is tough, the hurt never leaves, time doesn't heal. Sure as time goes on it gets easier, but you never forget or never cease to feel the pain. Its been 10 years since I lost my dad, and there are days it feels like yesterday. BUT I live with the hope on of one day seeing my dad again when we are reunited in heaven.

May Bobbi Houston Brown also be filled with that hope and peace that only God can give.. May she also grow from this and know that a life of drugs and alcohol is not the way to, after all she is part of our future.

Greatest love of all video here!

A mommy hurting for another mommy's child..

Lets here it for the boys thursday- Caleb

Last Thursday I blogged about Asher for MOB Society's "Lets here it for the boys" Thursday.

So today it is ALL about our other little boy wonder. Caleb Joshua is a rambunctious little guy. He is 15 months of energy and smiles. He has a will that will not stop for anyone! I remember being seven months pregnant and telling my hubby, we are going to have our hands full. If what I am feeling in my tummy is any indication of his personality then we are in for so trouble!

Who is Caleb? He is the little guy who is ALWAYS smiling or laughing. He is the little boy who runs around the house screaming of excitement. He is the "David" and his brother is the "Jonathan." He LOVES his brother, first thing he says when he gets up from bed or nap is "brudther". He is a lost puppy when brother is not around. He is just so lovable you want to keep kissing him and squeezing him.

He is ALSO the little boy who has a mean grip when he doesn't want to let go of something. He is the boy who will scream to make sure you know what he wants. He is the determined little boy who will climb chairs, beds and anything else that seems to be a challenge. He is the little guy who likes to pok you in the eye to get a reaction and occasionally bites you on the shoulder because he is excited.

He is defiantly different from his brother, but unique and wonderfully made. I know that Lord has plans for this boy. He is bold, not afraid and strong willed for a reason and a purpose!

I finally hit 100!

As I pushed the stroller, with one child wearing a captain America mask, a cape, a shield, Thomas the train utility belt and a batman shirt, I wonder a few things.. First, what kind of super hero was this child. Next, how did I become that mom, who allows her child to go out in public this way. Then the last thought was how did I ever have 100 things to blog about?

Yup darn skippy.. Today my Blog turns 100.. Well not really, FFF is only 2 years old BUT today marks the 100th blog. So in between heavy breathing (uphill with a double stroller is torture), Captain America's singing under his mask, and the other little boy wonder exercising his lungs because he is strapped in, I thanked God and laughed.

Who am I Lord, that anyone would want to read anything I write. I was gently reminded that I am His, and He is mine. At least I can bank on one reader. hahaha

Because of this Blog I established an awesome friendship and forever grateful for putting Melissa in my life. Because of obedience to step out of my comfort zone to write, I have established this amazing fruitful friendship. I am excited to see what other work comes out of this blog! From friendships, to curing childhood cancer, nothing is impossible for my God.

Again thank you for inviting me into your home. For taking the time to read, I know that although there might not be comments on every post, there are people reading and I am so ok with that. To celebrate, I have invited some friends to guest blog for me, next week. I am so excited to see what they come up with.. I am sure some of them will be stepping out of their comfort zones, but this could be the beginning to their blogging journey.

Also I am adding a little testosterone to the blog and have asked my honey to blog it up for me to.. Woohoo see how that one goes..who knows if I approve perhaps I will give him a segment ;)

Here is to 100 more!!!
My heart loves you all to the moon and back.. No really I do!!!
Moni

My new read!

After this post, I am one blog away from being a 100! woohooo, it took along time getting here, but nevertheless I did. I feel like I should throw a party, with cake, candles, me, my blog and my faithful friends who are my readers.

Sooo with that said, we are going to celebrate! More to come on that note. So switching channels for a second, I have to tell you about the new book I am reading (part of my goals). It is called "Run to win" by Christine Caine. I got on the treadmill last night with the anticipation of warming up and reading abit. 45 minutes later, still walking I found myself unable to put the book down. I think that book was written exactly for me, and possibly you.

If I could afford it, I would buy a copy for all my friends! One thing I read that really hit home on the importance of maintaining a healthy body was this:

"Christians have more reasons to stay fit than any gym junkie. Its not about how good we can make ourselves look by developing lots of muscles, it is abut being effective carriers of God giving Him the best shell possible to work with."

I love how she calls our body the shell. I immediately thought of a turtle. Although the shell of a turtle provides excellent protection from many predators, it can also make the turtle vulnerable to health problems if it is not given good care in captivity.

We need to take care of our shell, the place where the Lord dwells. Christine goes on to say, how can we go out to do the Lords business when are bodies are failing. How would we have the stamina to go out, serve, teach, preach etc. if we are always tired and in failing health. I never saw it that way. what an eye opener!

The book isn't about running a physical marathon but more the spiritual one, but as you read they are so similar, you can apply to both. If you want to order the book it is less that 8.00! Go to Christine Caines website.

Running to win!
Moni

Milestones & Couch to 5k plan

This is the year for milestones.. This month, marks 10 year anniversary of my dads passing. A few post from now, I will hit 100 blog post finally. In October, the hubby and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary and in November, Noah Asher will be 5!

I am looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us this year. I will be supporting the home and hubby, as he heads to winter camp in march, and Japan in July. With school, ministry, work, I am amazed at how he does it! In the middle of Noah starting school soon, watching grandma and starting some sort of mommy & me with Caleb, I will be training!

But before I jump to my 1/2 marathon, lets start off with the 5k. Some of you will be joining "runners for grace" in May so I wanted to post a "couch to 5k plan" that gets you running in nine weeks. Its a nine week program, and there are three workout plans to choose from. Be sure to warm up at least 5 minutes before and stretch really good.

Week	Workout 1	Workout 2	Workout 3
1	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
2	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
3	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)
4	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
5	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.
6	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 22 minutes) with no walking.
7	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
8	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
9	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).	The final workout! Congratulations! Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

A few minutes each week

Each session should take about 20 or 30 minutes, three times a week. That just happens to be the same amount of moderate exercise recommended by numerous studies for optimum fitness. This program will get you fit. (Runners who do more than this amount are doing it for more than fitness, and before long you might find yourself doing the same as well).

Be sure to space out these three days throughout the week to give yourself a chance to rest and recover between efforts. And don't worry about how fast you're going. Running faster can wait until your bones are stronger and your body is fitter. For now focus on gradually increasing the time or distance you run.

Run for time, or run for distance

There are two ways to follow this program, to measure your runs by time or by distance. Either one works just as well, choose the option that seems easiest for you to keep track of. If you go with the distance option, and you are not using a track to measure the distances, just estimate. It's not important to have the distances absolutely exact.

Before setting out, make sure to precede each session with a five-minute warm up walk or jog. Be sure to stretch both before and after.


Information above was taken from CoolRunning.com . There is also another great site Active.com that I use for good training tips. As always I am also here to answer an novice questions that you might have, like what is the best drinking water, or what are good running songs, I got you covered ;)

Lets do this!!!
Moni

"Freeing Forgiveness"

The other day, after my friendship blog a friend asked that I add another quality to my friendship bank. In my one year reading, I see the picture of true forgiveness with Joesph and his brothers.

You see because of jealousy, Joseph was sold to be a slave by his own brothers. From a slave he became the kings right hand man. It was in his position that he was false accused by the kings wife of trying to pursue her sexually. Thrown in prison for years, he became the head manager. After several years, he was brought before the king restored as his right hand man, because of dream interpretation.

Famine caused Josephs brothers to Egypt for food. Not knowing that the hand that was about to feed them was their brother. Now imagine the fear of the brothers when they found out that their "lord" was the brother that they betrayed. The bible says that Joseph was overcome with emotion that he had to go into another room to cry.

When Joseph saw the fear in his brothers he said:

"But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
"For these two years the famine [has been] in the land, and [there are] still five years in which [there will be] neither plowing nor harvesting.
"And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
"So now [it was] not you [who] sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. (Gen 45:5-8)

What a picture of true forgiveness. Joseph was not bitter, that he was sold, then accused and then imprisoned. He saw past his own circumstances, to see the greater work that God was doing in his and his brothers lives.

Forgiveness can be hard to do, and hard to ask for. There is something freeing that happens though when you finally get rid of the hurt and anger. Do you need to be forgiven? Ask for it, perhaps you feel you will be greeted with hostility, but like Joseph you may be greeted with a hug or a kiss. Do you need to forgive? Is pride keeping you back from being a Joseph?

Pray about it now, and give it to the Lord. Trust me there will be burdens lifted left and right if you will humble yourself and just forgive!

Why friendship is like a bank account

I am learning that friendship is like a bank account, in order for you to make a withdraw you need to first make deposits. It would be foolish for you to go to the bank and try pulling out money when you have not put any cash into your account.

Bible says that in order to have a friend you must first be friendly, as it says in Proverbs 18:24. In other words before you can partake in a friendship you must give to the friendship ( aka, deposit than withdraw). This past weekend I had the opportunity to dig deeper in regards to friendship, and I realized that I still have alot of learning and work to do.

In all relationships, it takes work. Fruitful relationships take more than an occasional call, a drive by hi, a "like" on your fb status or "I miss you" on your wall. There are deposits to be made. Lets talk about those deposits.

Investing time- Face it no one has the time, you gotta make the time! Set it and don't forget it!
Be Patient
Be Honest- There's a quote that says " I would rather be hurt by the truth, than be protected by a lie." That's truth right there!
Be Dependable- Can they count on you? Let your yes be yes and no be no ( ouch!)
Be Transparent- No fronts, No masks, straight up how you feel, how you do what you do and being real!
Be encouraging- There is so many discouraging things already in this world, use words to build each other up, not tear them down.
Be loyal- Remember that there are peaks and valleys in our own life, don't run for the hills when your friendship is in the valley!
Build Trust- Trust is the most important thing, don't lose it, and if you do, work hard to get it back.
Have understanding- How do you have understanding? You must communicate.truth.
Prayer- Pray with and for each other.
Love- Just love on each other!

Now as we are relating friendships to bank accounts, lets talk stocks. As you know investing in stocks cause risks. There are serious factors that would cause a stock to decline, the economy, bad business decision's etc. In friendship there are also some factors that could jeopardize your investment and the you are at risk of being hurt.

Here are a few, jealousy, pride, gossip, backbiting to name a few. These are toxic to any relationship and unfortunately they are easy to fall into if we are not careful.

I thought I knew all I needed to know about friendship back in high school, but the reality of it is that at the age of 36 I am still learning what it takes to be a good friend. I humbly admit that I fail. I can honestly say that my cup is running over with the ladies, and friends that the Lord has put in my life. He has blessed me abundantly and despite me being me, they love me anyway..

So to my friends, please be patient with me as I pursue being the friend God has desired me to be!
Moni

" A friend loves at all times" Proverbs 17:17