Checklist for Life for Moms: Timeless Wisdom & Foolproof Strategies for Making the Most of Life's Challenges & Opportunities

By Thomas Nelson

Checklist for Life is the ultimate handbook for living a successful, joy-filled life. Checklist for Life for Moms offers insight into issues that are specific to the challenges moms face every day. In addition to a brief narrative, each chapter of this interactive handbook features:

• An "I Will" checklist of heart and attitude reinforcements.
• A "Things to Do" checklist of action points.
• A "Things to Remember" section of Scripture verses and applicable quotes from famous and not-so-famous people

Topics addressed include time management, sibling rivalry, career decisions, and family rules, to name a few. In all, there are insightful narratives, Scriptures, quotations, and checklists on 66 topics. The practical, inspirational content plus the attractive two-color text design and unique cover make this a book moms will want to own and give as a gift.

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 27, 2005
• ISBN: 9781418579395

Book preview

Checklist for Life

for Moms

Presented To:

________________________

Presented By:

________________________

Date:

________________________

Checklist for Life

for Moms

Checklist for Life

for Moms

EPC_Checklist_Moms_0004_001

Copyright © 2005 by GRQ, Inc.

Brentwood, Tennessee 37067

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations noted NKJV are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. • Scripture quotations noted GOD’S WORD are from GOD’S WORD, a copyrighted work of God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society. Copyright 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society. All rights reserved. Used by permission. • Scripture quotations noted KJV are from the KING JAMES VERSION. • Scripture quotations noted THE MESSAGE are from The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. • Scripture quotations noted NASB are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®;, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. • Scripture quotations noted NCV are from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. • Scripture quotations noted NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. • Scripture quotations noted NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. • Scripture quotations noted NRSV are from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible. Copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of The Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Managing Editor: Lila Empson

Manuscript written and prepared by Sarah M. Hupp, with contributions from Mary Tucker

Design: Whisner Design Group, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Checklist for life for moms : timeless wisdom & foolproof strategies for making the most of life's challenges and opportunities.

   p. cm.

  ISBN 0-7852-6004-8 (pbk.)

 1. Mothers--Religious life. 2. Motherhood--Religious aspects--Christianity. I. Thomas Nelson Publishers.

 BV4529.18.C44 2005

248.8'431--dc22

2004028645

Printed in the United States of America

05 06 07 08 CJK 5 4 3 2 1

Heart Attitude

I will delight in the life

God has given me.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Positive Polarity (Attitude)

I Can’t Hear You (Listening)

I Know We Can (Godly Confidence)

Give’Em a Break (Kids and School)

Openhearted Folks (Friendship)

Another Option (Adoption)

Conversations with God (Prayer)

More Difficult Than Diapers (Lifestyle Changes)

Downright Ugly Ducklings (Beauty)

Deal with It (Anger)

A Powerful Motivator (Encouragement)

Count on It (Responsibility)

Hurtful Hearsay (Gossip)

Seventy Days (Rest)

From Troublesome to Terrific (Grandparents)

God’s Flowers (Self-esteem)

An Endless Attitude (Thanksgiving)

Learning to Let Go (Sharing with Others)

Forget the Feast (Hospitality)

Tongue Twisters (Kids and Communication)

We Need to Talk (Sex and Intimacy)

Piano Portraits (Fun and Laughter)

Which Way? (Guidance)

My Shepherd (God’s Provision)

Maturing Taste Buds (Growing Up Spiritually)

Go Ahead—Jump (Trust)

Madison Avenue Madness (Contentment)

A Corn Dolly’s Lesson (Loss)

Anxious Meditation (Worry)

Supermom (Asking for Help)

Enough of the Enoughs (Health and Nutrition)

Apron Time (Worship and Praise)

Me and My Shadow (Setting an Example)

An Unexpected Boatload (Faith)

The Fourth Leg (Children and Church)

Expand Your Vision (Perspective)

A Forever Thing (God’s Love)

A Fencing Lesson (Family Rules)

The Art of Manners (Respect for Others)

Cross Your Heart (Promises)

Like a Mother (God’s Image)

Shovel While It’s Snowing (Bible Study)

Infernal Fraternal Fracases (Sibling Rivalry)

A Stack of Stones (Remembering)

Skinned Knees and Elbows (Forgiveness)

Just Ordinary People (God Uses You)

Plenty Good (Discipline)

When Dad Can’t Be There (Single Moms)

Take Time (Patience)

The Elusive Dream (Happiness)

Building Blocks (Talents and Abilities)

To Be or Not To Be (Career Decisions)

Ticks and Tocks (Time Management)

Shine (Kindness)

Have to Have It (Peace)

Peek-a-Boo (Feelings and Emotions)

Kidnapped (Loneliness)

All Shapes and Sizes (Fear)

What’s Most Important (Priorities)

Cash and Caring (Kids and Money)

Hot Burners and Sharp Lids (Wisdom)

Backhanded Blessings (Problems)

Go and Tell (Witness)

Dorothy’s Wisdom (Safety)

A Comfort Cover (Love)

A New Chapter (Perseverance)

Introduction

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them . . . he who leads, with diligence.

ROMANS 12:6, 8 NKJV

Do you ever wish you could have a Little House on the Prairie moment? You know the one: Two rocking chairs are pulled up to a fireplace as flames crackle and dance. A grandmother, bent with age, face carved with lines and wrinkles, occupies one chair. In the other rocker you sit expectantly, awaiting words of wisdom. Your child gurgles and coos contentedly in your lap. The hours pass, and you two mothers—one old, one new—share, laugh, and learn all there is to know about mothering. Aah . . .

Unfortunately those tranquil moments exist only on TV.

Today’s moms live in a reality show of busy days and overscheduled calendars. Probably the only chair you get to occupy for hours on end is the driver’s seat of the family car, taking kids to lessons, going to work, running countless other errands. You find yourself pulled in different directions, facing situations for which you feel totally unprepared. Your spiritual life is hit-or-miss, often lost in the never-ending tasks of mothering. You’re drowning in responsibilities and would count yourself lucky if you could only tread water.

Take heart, Mom. Whatever your situation, Checklist for Life for Moms meets you in the middle of the problems you encounter every day. This unique handbook is built around topics of concern for all moms, bringing a Christian perspective to the ups and downs of mothering. Filled with life-changing principles shared in brief overviews, memorable quotations that will touch your heart, encouraging words from Scripture, and lists that will stretch your mind and spirit, this easily accessible guide will powerfully change your heart and life as you mother your children. You’ll also learn creative, practical ways to implement the lessons you’ve learned, how to share them with your children, and how to help your kids reflect God in their lives, too.

Whether you have an unexpected half-hour or a spare moment while waiting for the next carpool, let Checklist for Life for Moms transport you to that longed-for pioneer fireside and find God’s wisdom, blessing, and hope with every turn of the page.

Children were more to Jesus than helpless, gentle creatures to be loved and protected; they were His chief parable of the kingdom of heaven.

—JOHN WATSON

As you walk through the valley of the unknown, you will find the footprints of Jesus both in front of you and beside you.

—CHARLES STANLEY

God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.

PHILIPPIANS 1:6 NCV

God always gives his very best to those who leave the choice with him.

JAMES HUDSON TAYLOR

Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days!

PSALM 90:14 NKJV

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.

HODDING CARTER

When they see their many children and material blessings, they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Israel. They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

ISAIAH 29:23 NLT

When Jesus put the little child in the midst of His disciples, He did not tell the little child to become like His disciples, He told the disciples to become like the little child.

Ruth Bell Graham

The people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones with the concern. Max Lucado

Checklist for Life for Moms

There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, simple, and useful life.

—Booker T. Washington

Attitude

Positive Polarity

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

—PHILIPPIANS 2:5 KJV

Children are fascinated with magnets. Science teaches that when two like ends of magnets are put together, the magnets push each other apart. Conversely, when a positive pole of a magnet is put up against a negative pole of another magnet, the two magnets will stick tightly together.

The powerful, unseen force of your attitude parallels the lessons of a magnet. Like the magnet, if your mind-set or attitude is negatively focused on the negative things about other family members, you’ll find your family pushed apart by the polarity of criticism. If your children hear or see only negative words or actions from you about your husband, mother-in-law, or someone at church, your children will push those same people away with their own negative feelings. And if your negative attitude splashes over onto your own children by over-criticizing their actions and behavior, you may find your children pushing away from you as well.

Just as magnets have negative and positive poles, so also your attitudes can be positive instead of negative. Actively seeking a positive attitude in negative situations reflects the mind of Christ and helps bring healing to relationships. For example, you may have a poor relationship with your mother-in-law because of past hurts or disagreements. Concentrating on those negatives will only push you farther apart. But if you look for a positive quality in this woman who easily generates such a negative response in you, you may find some common ground or a way to be drawn together.

Remember the Bible story of Jacob and Laban? Though Laban was Jacob’s relative, he cheated Jacob over and over again, refusing to give him what he had promised, refusing to pay him what was owed. Yet Jacob didn’t say anything bad about Laban. He didn’t treat this older man with disrespect. Jacob guarded his thoughts and responded to Laban’s negative tricks with hard work and a positive attitude. Genesis 31:7 says that even though Laban cheated Jacob ten times, God did not let Laban’s negative ways hurt Jacob at all. Instead Jacob’s positive attitude in response to negative conditions brought about unparalleled prosperity for him and his family.

So check your attitude. Be positive. Ask God to help you focus on the positive qualities in those people who might otherwise provoke a negative response, no matter how small those positive qualities may be. Look for common ground, too. Remember, with magnets and relationships, it always takes a positive to grow close to a negative.

I Will

Things to Do

1 Play with some magnets while you and your children discuss positive and negative attitudes.

1 Express your pride in your child’s accomplishments three times more than you criticize.

1 Take the emphasis off correcting and disciplining. Look instead for ways to compliment and encourage.

1 Watch yourself in a mirror saying positive things. Remember your reflection when tempted to be negative.

1 Read Luke 6:37–42 with your children. Discuss how judging others can affect your attitudes.

1 Play the game of opposites with your kids. For every negative, think of a positive: Bad/Good, Sad/Happy, Mean/Nice.

Things to Remember

Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

PROVERBS 4:23 NASB

What does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

MICAH 6:8 NKJV

There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature.

EPHESIANS 4:23–24 NLT

Let the teaching of Christ live in you richly. . . . Everything you do or say should be done to obey Jesus your Lord.

COLOSSIANS 3:16–17 NCV

I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:33 NIV

Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them.

MATTHEW 7:11 THE MESSAGE

There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.

—CLEMENT STONE

Circumstances and situations do color life, but you have been given the mind to choose what the color shall be.

—JOHN HOMER MILLER

Listening

I Can’t Hear You

Men listened to me and waited, and kept silence for my counsel.

—JOB 29:21 NKJV

Did you hear me? Were you listening to me? You’ve probably asked your children these questions more times than you care to count. Your children may have resorted to more physical means to get you to listen to them—draping themselves over your body, hanging from every appendage, endlessly repeating, Mommy! Mommy!

Listening is tough work. It takes time, concentration, and interest. Listening involves centering your focus on an individual and opening your mind and ears to what is being said. Quality listening affirms the value of each individual and makes families and relationships stronger. So, how can you show you care by listening better?

First you may need to unlearn some bad habits. Maybe you usually talk first and listen last. Why not try a new one-two punch? Try listening first and talking last. Maybe you’re usually trying to do two things at the same time—listening and . . . listening and folding the laundry, listening and washing the dishes, listening and paying the bills. Try stopping what you’re doing when a child wants to talk to you or suggesting getting together in just a minute so that you can give your child your full attention. Maybe you need a physical cue to remind yourself to shift your focus from doing to listening. Take a deep breath; close your eyes for a second; sit down.

To get your children to listen to you, you may need to try new communication techniques. When God met with Elijah in 1 Kings 19, Elijah experienced the noise of a whirlwind, an earthquake, and a roaring fire. Yet it wasn’t until after the fire that God began to speak with Elijah in a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12 KJV). If you’ve been a shoutin’ Momma, noisily whirling words and shaking the rafters to communicate, follow God’s example. To get your kids listening, try whispering.

Then work together with your children on active listening skills. Face the person you’re listening or speaking to. Look him or her in the eye. Ask questions like How do you feel about that? to understand what someone is trying to tell you. For assurance that you’re really hearing what is being said, summarize what you hear in your own words. Say something like What I hear you saying is . . . Your active listening will show your children that they are important to you. And, by actively listening to your children when they speak to you, they’ll learn (hopefully) to be better listeners themselves, too.

I Will

Things to Do

1 Devise a family signal—a whistle or hand clap—as a reminder to be quiet and listen.

1 To develop listening skills in younger kids, tell stories about when they were born.

1 Take your children to the park and listen. How many different sounds can you identify?

1 Start a story with your kids as the heroes. Listen as they finish the tale.

1 Inquire about school activities each day. Listen carefully to their problems and feelings.

1 Hide under the covers with your kids and listen to their bedtime prayers.

Things to Remember

Come here and listen to me! I’ll pour out the spirit of wisdom upon you and make you wise.

PROVERBS 1:23 NLT

If you listen to correction to improve your life, you will live among the wise.

PROVERBS 15:31 NCV

Be careful how you listen. Those who have understanding will be given more. But those who do not have understanding, even what they think they have will be taken away from them.

LUKE 8:18 NCV

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

HEBREWS 2:1 NIV

Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching; for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck.

PROVERBS 1:8–9 NRSV

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

JOHN 10:27–28 NIV

One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears—by listening to them.

—DEAN RUSK

While the right to talk may be the beginning of freedom, the necessity of listening is what makes the right important.

—WALTER LIPPMANN

Godly Confidence

I Know We Can

The LORD will be your confidence.

—PROVERBS 3:26 NKJV

Some experienced moms never seem to be overwhelmed, no matter the situation. Yet for new moms who have little experience in mothering, holding a baby is enough of a challenge, let alone being totally responsible for a child’s every need. Doesn’t this baby come with a how-to manual? they wonder. Even if a child came with an instruction manual, a mom can’t hold a child with one hand and keep her place in the how-to book with the other. In order to survive, moms need to possess an inner confidence.

Where does this confidence come from? Many psychologists preach, You can do anything. Just trust in yourself. Accepting this rhetoric, many moms sound like the little engine in the children’s storybook, puffing up the hill saying, I think I can; I think I can. Unfortunately, being human means you have limitations. You’ll be able to do some things, but not others. Because of these limitations, moms need to base their inner confidence on something better than self. To raise children in today’s world, moms need to depend on God in every