Moms: First and Last and Always

Mark 10:31
" But many who are first will be last, and the last first. "


    There are 3 references in the Gospels of this same phrase: in Matthew, here in Mark, and in Luke. I would say that gives it some significance and that we should at least ponder its meaning. I'm not going to give you the scholarly take, the pulpits take, or the biblical expert's explanation of this verse. You are lucky enough to be reading the Michelle interpretation/spin!! Yay!

   What I see from this important message from Jesus, is that giving of one's self and putting others first is the way we need to go through life. We don't want to do it to gain first place or to receive an award as the most giving person or the most generous philanthropist, either. Or even, to get us in a better position in line at the pearly gates. As Christians, this should just be our modus operandi. We shouldn't even be thinking about our position or station in life, it should just flow naturally. I think too, that the most obvious example of this (other than Jesus, of course!) here on earth, is a mother.

    Motherhood is certainly one of the most "last place" kind of positions that our society has. The pay, for one thing, is terrible!! As a matter of fact, it'll cost you; not only monetarily, but physically, and emotionally, as well. And, it's a lifetime commitment with not a lot of opportunities for advancement. Oh sure, you could possibly get promoted to Grandma, Gigi, Nana or Bubie someday, but you still hold the same title you currently held: Mother (in my case Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom...etc and so on).

   On the "first place" side though, motherhood has unbelievable benefits. You get to love. Love that grows and multiplies bigger, stronger and higher than you can ever imagine. You almost feel your heart could burst!! There are moments, too, that they love you back. AMAZE BALLS! (this phenomenon, seems to happen less when they are teenagers, but there are certainly those moments when you can still catch a glimpse). There's also the unbelievable pride that you feel. Sometimes it happens when you simply just watch your child dancing around in the living room, doing their homework, or catch them reading. Other times, it's bigger: watching them walk across the stage at graduation, getting their first job, having the people they work with or for telling you how amazing your child is, seeing them take a chance or a risk on a dream, and maybe (someday for me) telling you they found the love of their life and are going to have a baby of their own.

   Lord, thank you for giving me the best/worst, first/last position in the world!

Here's a pic of the first person that made me a mom.

July 1990

And, the last.

December 2012

   I wanted to give you (and my husband and children...) a list of my top picks for Mother's Day, this year. It's been a lean shopping year for me, because of our house. So this year's picks will be given with a strict budget in mind.

This tote...yes, Walmart shoppers, I like this purse! and the price is right.

$16.97 Time and Tru Straw Circle Tote, Walmart
 Comes in various colors. They were out of this color online, but I found several in my local store.

Towel sets. (*note to my family: NOT THIS COLOR!) We are finally to the stage where the bathrooms at the new house actually have tile and counters, so of course, my mind is currently decorating the bathrooms. There is nothing better than fresh new towels in a fresh new bathroom.

These towels are from Kohl's and come in 21 different colors. (look more at the blues please, family!)
Sonoma Goods for Life 6 Pack Towel with Hygro Technology, $64.99- Kohl's

And, not expensive and local for me but they do have a website, these bath and body products...

Welcome Home in Chestertown, MD. carries this wonderful array of lotions, soaps,
and other bath and body products by Barr-Co. and K.Hall Designs. Prices vary.

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mom, Paulette! and to all mom's! 

Have a blessed day today, and celebrate on Sunday, the best, first, last and always job you'll ever love!!

The Milliner's Great-Granddaughter

Daniel 3:21
" Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. " ESV


   
 This sounds terrible, doesn't it? You're dressed in your best outfit, feeling sharp, and then the king demands that you are thrown into a fiery furnace! Well, probably for anyone else, this story would have had a terrible ending. But here, in the book of Daniel: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, are met in the furnace by "a son of the gods" and much to everyone's astonishment (probably their own as well), they walk out: completely unburned, with their clothing still intact, and they don't even smell like smoke! They were protected by God, because of their faith.  Oh Lord, if we were judged solely on our faith, would we be burned? Don't answer, just pray on that one...

     Today, I have been putting off for over 3 hours writing this post. And shockingly, I started to write a post last November that I never published! (it's a shame because it looks like it would have been a good one, too!). In fact, it hasn't just been 3 hours, it's been almost 6 months that I've been putting off writing anything. Why? Well, I guess I was afraid. Afraid my post wouldn't be good enough, afraid that no one would read it, afraid that there would be misspellings, grammatical errors, afraid that I would be too revealing about what was happening in my life, maybe not revealing enough, afraid I wasn't faithful enough, that you could see through my faithfulness or lack thereof.

     It has been a long year and a half or more since we've moved to the eastern shore. Truly some very unpleasant things have happened in the building of our new home, but also some very special "God" moments as well. Personally, it has been draining as well. Children, no matter how wonderful, are just so darned draining!! Marriage is HARD! And, getting back to work or working at all when you have so much going on, is nearly impossible. But my God is the God of doing the impossible. So TODAY, May 1, 2019, I'm moving forward with God. He has created me for so much more. Ready or not, here I come.

     Why is this post named "The Millener's Great-Granddaughter"? Well, that would be me. Unfortunately, I don't really know a lot about my Great-Grandfather. My grandfather never really talked about his family life as a child. I was fortunate to have met my Great-Grandmother, and his brothers and sister. I am also very grateful to know their children and some of their children. What I do know is that at the turn of the 20th century, my Great-Grandfather was a milliner in Baltimore. A man that made a living making and/or selling hats to men and women. Can you imagine someone making a living doing that today? I can!!

     I was contacted by The Wallaroo Hat Company to represent them to their wholesale customers. How fun is that? I love that it totally fits my lifestyle. Currently, I represent Southwind Apparel, beautiful ladies clothing that is perfect for an active lifestyle, and Rodan + Fields, skincare products. What do all of these things have in common? Believe it or not, these are all skincare products! Yep. Southwind Apparel's clothing is UPF50 rated and not only do you obviously get some sun protection from wearing any hat, but many of Wallaroo's hats are also UPF50+ rated!! Skincare can be fashionable, too!

     Let me also just say something else. Each one of these companies: Rodan + Fields, Southwind Apparel, and Wallaroo Hat Company have been started by strong, smart, and talented WOMEN!!! Yeah, you go girls!! I pray that one day my daughters will be able to describe me that way, too.

     Here are some shots of me in some of my great new hat samples. Click on the link to view the catalog to see many more beautiful fashionable hats.
 

This fedora is called Palmer.  It's in the "Men's Collection", but these are great for men and women!

This hat, also a fedora, is the Monterey from "The W Collection"

I pray you have a wonderful Wednesday!

She's Leaving!

Proverbs 22: 6
"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."


Well, I'd like to say that this verse rings so true in my life. I'd like to say that each and every one of my beautiful children have been raised in an upright, perfectly Christian home and setting and that every day I have absolute assurance that each one of them is perfectly happy, healthy, wealthy and wise. NOT! On either count. I know that I am certainly full of sin, faults, worry, and frustration. And I know, too, that my children have had more than their fair share of hard times.

But, what I do have is HOPE. Yes, folks, hope. Committing your life to Christ isn't an instant cure-all for all of life's problems. But what it gives me is hope. Even though I have had major parenting fails, my children have a heavenly father that loves them and has a plan for each one of them. He will not leave them or disappoint them. He has already given them the ultimate gift of His Son. I will still worry, mess up, get angry, and yes, still sin (because of all of my humanness!). But my hope comes from the Lord!!

So, what brought all of this on? Well, after 28 years of parenting, I will be alone in September. My youngest is going to kindergarten. And, if that won't be hard enough, I have a senior in high school this year as well. My baby boy (who is actually almost 17) is going to graduate next spring. I'd like to say that I will be doing a happy dance when they all get on the bus in a couple of weeks, but I know how emotional I get, so I will probably be a wreck!!

The highlight of getting ready for back-to-school has definitely been shopping for my little girl! She's old enough to have an opinion, but still young enough that I get to have a lot of input. Yay!! I love input! (control, whatever!)

Here are a few things we have for her so far for this school year.

We did some great bargain shopping at Marshalls.
She insisted that she needed this Peppa Pig outfit.
It's sparkly and adorable, just like my girl!

This dress will be perfect for her first few weeks in school.
The temps stay pretty high here until October
(sometimes even November and December!).
Love the asymmetrical hem!

This is her goofball pose.
This 2 piece outfit will be perfect for chilly mornings and air-conditioned classrooms.
We purchased all 3 of these outfits for under $30 at Marshalls!
What a deal!

     When you save money somewhere you can splurge a little somewhere else! I love these Spunkwear dresses for my girl. They are UPF 50, moister wicking keeps her dry and comfortable, and they are made in the USA. Not to mention, they are ADORABLE!

This is the Girls Original Dress in Hot Pink Crab. Preppy Crab and Carolina Crab are available online.
You can even get a matching dress or skort for yourself!!
Use code MICHELLESHIP for free shipping!

 Enjoy your babies, one day you'll turn around and they'll be off to school!

I hope your day is full of blessings!

3000 Steps

Psalm 37: 23-24
" The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. "


I have a FitBit. I got it as a Mother's Day gift last year from my daughter (her father helped, too!). I have been noticing lately, that usually by 7:30 in the morning I have walked about 3000 steps, that's about 1-1/2 miles of walking. I am not taking a morning run in this time, I do however walk my dogs up and down the block, so that does account for some of the steps. Running up and down the steps to get my teenage son out of bed in the morning does account for a good bit of the steps, too, LOL!

Where are my steps taking me? Am I choosing the right path? Should I walk away? Should I run? Can I walk back? Steps.

When we walk on sand, like at the beach, our steps are harder to take. When we walk on a path in the woods and it's uneven terrain, we can sometimes stumble.When we walk on solid firm ground walking is so much easier. I sometimes have nightmares where I am either running away from something or running to catch up to something ,and I don't have the strength to run anymore and so I crawl and pull my way. Steps.

This year has brought so many changes, some of them easy, and some of them hard. I have walked steps I didn't know I would walk. There are paths that I have not yet taken, paths I thought I knew the direction I was taking, only to get miserably lost. Some of the wrong paths have taken me to beautiful places that I didn't expect to find. I find, that wherever my steps lead me, even when I go off on my own, I have the assurance that my God is always near me. Like a child lost in the woods, I cry out and my Father will find me, setting me back on the path that is firm.

Thank you, Lord, that though, I may stumble along in my life, your hand is always there to uphold me.

Mother's Day this year...well, I haven't given it a lot of thought, it seems to have come up really fast. My biggest desire, right now, is for my house to be done. That will certainly NOT happen by Sunday! So here are a few other suggestions for anyone who might be reading this...for YOUR mom, of course!

Me and my baby girl!!
These great dresses by Southwind Apparel are an adorable mother-daughter combo!
For FREE shipping on these dresses and so many other great dresses, skorts, pants, etc...
use this code: MICHELLESHIP
at  Southwind Apparel and Spunkwear

I love Ainsley Earhardt, and I can't wait to read this book about her journey of faith.
Get your copy here: Barnes & Noble

Or, maybe a pair of sunglasses!
Like these from Nordstrom Rack! 

 I pray you have a blessed Mother's Day weekend!!

Ode to Joy

Psalm 16: 11
"In your presence is fullness of joy"

Wow! It's been over 3 months since I sat down at this computer and wrote anything except a quick FB or IG post. Where did the time go? Was it truly full of joy for me and my family? Full?? No way! Were there joyous moments? Absolutely. I have to say that the busyness of settling my family into a new town with new schools and of course, starting at the end of October, the busyness of the holiday season, took it's toll on me. Mostly, though, the true drain for me, has been our new home. Here's a pic of what our new home looked like at the beginning of January...



and this is what it looks like now...



OK, you got me, it's the same picture. but truthfully, NOTHING has changed!

This house has truly been the albatross around my neck. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Just when I feel like I am going to move on in faith and hope, something else happens. We are now down another builder. I didn't share this with you before, but the last builder was to have us under roof  by the end of October, and we are still not under roof. The first week in January he packed up all of his things (unbeknownst to us) and left the job. No roof, no windows...certainly no joy here.

Don't get me wrong. I haven't given up (although some days my husband calls me "Debbie Downer"!), but it is certainly not what I had hoped and dreamed for, for my family (and of course myself!).

So, in the beginning of the year, in my devotionals, I was to pray about a word that would somehow define my year. And, the word that kept coming up for me was JOY. What??? JOY??? Yep, joy. Well, Lord, here I go. I am stepping out in faith today, and tomorrow, knowing that this year, there IS joy. That this year and beyond, the joy that I am seeking does not come from this acre lot and this unfinished house. It comes from You, Lord, just from You. The full verse in Psalm 16 is this,

" You show me the path of life;
 in your presence is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore"

Amen.

H is for October!?

1 Corinthians 13:6
" Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. "


I certainly didn't mean to mislead you with my post title today. If I have offended or confused you, I am truly sorry. And that's the truth! Are you rejoicing?? That's the hardest type of sin to confess, isn't it? If we don't know we have sinned, then how can we confess it? Fortunately we have wonderful prayers that help us to cover these types of situations. Here's one that I rely on.

"Most merciful God, 
we confess that we have sinned against thee
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved thee with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we earnestly repent.
For the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ, 
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in thy will,
and walk in thy ways,
to the glory of thy Name. Amen. "

I borrowed this from the Book of Common Prayer. While I no longer attend an Episcopal Church (a story for another day!), the resource of the prayer book is still invaluable to me. We can't escape sin, but if we confess each day and follow this simple "formula", we can cover in prayer, those sins that are less obvious to us. Lord, forgive my sins, things I have done, those things I have left undone, and those things that I don't even realize that I have done. Forgive me, Lord.

So now, to the fun!! H is for October because there are (and have been), so many fun things that begin with H this month that make me Happy! First, this is our first October in a new town. Each year, here in Chestertown, they have a HP Festival! No, not Hewlitt Packard, Harry Potter!! And as coincidence would have it, the little girls and I had just decided to re-read (read for Frankie) the Harry Potter book series. So we were ready to hit the streets in our wizard robes and wands. Here's a pic of my very favorite wizard at our first HP Festival.

We also have been busy with HoCo (Homecoming), 2 weekends worth! My son went to Homecoming at his former high school with his beautiful girlfriend. And, my beautiful daughter went to her first Homecoming dance at her new high school with a group of friends. Here are some cute pics.

My girl is on the left.

Then, on Saturday, my 2nd oldest daughter had a birthday. So, H is for Happy Birthday!

Here's a cute pic of my parents and 5 of my babies.
My birthday girl is front and center!

And, finally, we have to look forward to Halloween!! We love dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating. Here's what my 4 year old wants to be this year.

We found this costume here-  HalloweenCostumes.com

I hope you have a happy, harmonious, healthy, start to your week!

               

Living the dream!

Habakkuk 2:2 (ESV)
" And the Lord answered me: 'Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.' "


I am definitely a visual learner. I really need to see something to understand. Just hearing someone tell me about it is not going to do it for me, I won't retain it. It's gone. If I can see it, or touch it and feel it, or experience it, I've got it. God knows that some of us need more than just to be told what to do, we need more than a good Sunday sermon. We need time to figure things out. We need to make mistakes, we need to have experiences, we need to see what He has put before us, He has to light with clarity the path we need to take. Even Habakkuk was commanded to write down God's word and post them, so that people could see the words that God had spoken. Thank you, Lord, for showing us, leading us, and teaching us your will for us. Thank you for coming to us, just where we are.

Yesterday, I had an experience that I could only have dreamed of as a young woman. And now, as a (let's just say) mature woman, I can certainly appreciate it that much more. I was invited to come to a meet and greet for a local clothing company, and be a MODEL!!! Now, to be clear, I don't know if any of the pictures that were taken of me last night will ever be seen by anyone outside of their offices. If they do, I'll certainly let you know, but truly, I felt so beautiful and blessed by the experience that if it doesn't happen, that will be OK. If someone had told me that this would happen to me, I probably wouldn't have believed them. The only pictures I have posed for taken by a professional photographer, were school and wedding pictures. I never even did a Glamour Shot in the 80's! Most of the pics you see of me on this blog are taken by me or my children.

The lesson that I learned last night was, had I not acted on this opportunity, it wouldn't have happened. Just like this blog, and so many other opportunities and blessing in my life, I didn't just hear about what could happen or what was possible. I had to put my fears and insecurities aside, make a plan, and take a chance. One of the other ladies last night said, that she could now check off- be a model, on her bucket list.  I'm going to use this opportunity, to continue to push forward and visualize and realize some other goals in my life. We are given such short years here on earth, I don't want to waste my time wallowing in unbelief and fear. God gave me so much to use and share, it's time to start doing, it's time to run. It's time to live  the dream!!

Here I am!! This was the first dress that I was photographed in.
It's so comfortable and it has pockets!!
Behind me is the designer/creator of this amazing local clothing brand
 and some of the fabulous women she has on her team. 

Yes, when you are a "professional" model (lol), they bring out the good snacks!!

Here's my 2nd outfit!
Can you tell I'm having fun??
I didn't take a pic of my 3rd outfit, it was the same top with a skirt that matches the first dress.
So comfy, so cute!

Have a blessed Thursday!! Run after those dreams. Truly live the life that you've been given.