Family - Where do You Spend Your Time?

Family – Isn’t that a great word. The word family conjures up so many different pictures in my mind as I am sure it does for you. We all have family, and different kinds of families that we are part of. I tend to picture Norman Rockwell pictures in my mind when I hear the word family. No, my family is NOT a Norman Rockwell family.

We have a family that we are born into, the people that we have chosen to be our extended family, our work family and our church family. We may even have more than those listed depending on your activities and associations. Notice that only one of these families is a group of people that we did not make a choice to join, the family that you are born into. Some have wonderful supportive families and others not so good.

It is up to you to decide who you associate with and who spend your time with.

When we use the word “associate” as a verb the definition is: "To connect someone or something in your mind with someone or something else" This definition shows us that we are making that choice to spend time with certain people and activities.

We all have characters in our families. You know the ones, they show up late to everything, the ones that you can count on to bring the gathering to life and the ones that secretly in the back of your mind, you hope don’t show up. We are an interesting group of humans.

As adults we make choices as to who we associate with. God addresses the subject to us through His word.

Romans 12:16 - Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Notice that we are commanded to “associate” with all people; however I don’t believe that God wants us to be harmful to ourselves and continually associate with people that are not good for us. We should always strive to be compassionate and loving to all; however, surrounding yourself with healthy loving people that are supportive is what creates a great family.

Do you make good choices about who you are associating with? 

May God Bless

Are you brave enough?

by Lillian Humphries


Let’s just start by saying I know some of you will disagree with me and that’s OK. I will love you anyway. J Remember this is my blog and it has my opinions in it.

Are you brave enough to stand up for what is right for your family? Life is hard and every day we face a myriad of decisions that must be made. We make them for ourselves, our family, our work, or husband/wife. What to wear, what to eat, what needs to be 
cleaned, who goes where and at what time and the list goes on. When was the last time you woke up and said “What should I do today”? Or “What would I like to do today”? I am sure it has been a long time since that happened, maybe even back to when you were a child.

When did we start letting society tell us what to do? Can we not think for ourselves? We
are so bombarded with information and choices in this day and age that it leaves our head spinning. Where are the days of getting up each day and doing your job and coming home to spend time with family and friends and considering that a full day and enough?

Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

God tells us to be still. When will we listen to Him? I understand we all think we are doing the best we can. I challenge you to really think about that issue.

List the top 5 priorities that you believe should be in life. Now list the top 5 things that really take up most of your time. Are they the same? Good for you if they are. I would venture to say that we can delete a few things from our lists of activities and still have a wonderful complete life.

All things can be pleasurable and fun and teach us things along the way. But what is the trade off? Organized sports are a great activity for children to be in. It teaches them team work and how to share, take turns and work with others. It is wonderful exercise and runs off excessive energy. It is also very entertaining. How about dance, gymnastics, karate, cycling, volleyball, basketball, golf or swimming, etc. They are all good activities, nothing wrong with them. But what quality of life are these things bringing to your life? If you are like most families I know you are spending a lot of time running to and from activities, spending more money then you need to on uniforms, costumes and equipment. Everything is rushed in life, hurry up and eat so we can get to school, hurry up eat so we can get to church, hurry up brush your teeth so we can get to bed, hurry up so we can . . . . . . (you fill in the blank).

Wait – it doesn’t have to be like that. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean we all have to do it. If it doesn’t fit your family dynamics and you find out that life is harder than you want it to be – just stop. Oh wait – doesn’t that mean my child will not be accepted into the well-adjusted people in life. No – how about this – your child understands God’s plan for his/her life, your child understand that their job is to go to school, study and learn. Your child understands what family is and that life is not going from event to event. Your child understands what it takes to run a home and how to treat other family members, how to help your neighbors, how to take care of their elderly family members. Your child will know how to budget money with what they have and not go out and get another job to pay for all the things they want or think they “need”.

 If you had a child with special needs you would build your life around that child’s needs. Parents, each of your children are a special needs child. They need you to love them and teach them the basics first and foremost. They need to understand what home and family values are. You want to teach them team work, teach them how to be a member of your family team. Each is an MVP (most valuable player). They do not need to be on a field, stage or other environment to learn their worth.

Parents I beg you to stand up for your families and get off the merry-go-round before it’s too late. Don’t teach your child that life is a series of parties/events, teach them life is about doing your best, loving God, your family and country

Share with me how your feel about the crazy life we are trying to live now. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know.

Creating Pleasures

by Lillian Humphries

I love hosting a good party. Sometimes I like just to through a few things together and hope for the best, but sometimes I love to really put on the Ritz. This past couple of weeks I was planning for Easter dinner at our house. I searched Pinterest for all the cute decorations and tasty treats that the grand children would enjoy. I had such fun preparing everything. The only problem with having a picture in your mind is sometimes it does not translate to my hands during the creation time. However, this year I was successful. There was only one fail and that was the big white cardboard Easter egg that I put a ribbon on. I didn’t buy the wire ribbon and the bow just laid there like a wet noodle.

I made rice crispy treats in pastels, layered and cut then placed on lollipop sticks wrapped with cellophane and tied with a bow. Easter bark filled with chocolate and candies, Cheetos in cake

decorating bags that looked like carrots and egg shaped sugar cookies decorated so precise that Martha Stewart would have been proud of me. Homemade yeast rolls that were the bomb and topped it off with butter piped into little swirls. Did I go over the top, you bet I did.

All that was wonderful and I loved the faces of my family as I showed off my talents waiting for the accolade’s that would follow, maybe not one of my most humble moments.

There was a lot of energy put into the preparation of the event. In the evenings I was exhausted from all the planning and creating. I wonder how God felt about creating the universe and all that is in it. How excited He must have been of all His creations. So proud and pleased. The beauty across the universe, the trees, flowers, animals and then saved the best for last – humans.

My mind can’t comprehend anything near that grand. The pleasure our Father must have felt in the beginning surely was overwhelming.

Do you give our Father the accolades that you do others? Do praise Him and thank Him for the beauty all around us? Spring time is a wonderful time of year to see His beauty unfold. Praise and thank God today.

Older Women

Wow is all I can say. I have recently had the opportunity to spend three days with some amazing women. They happen to be sisters one is 86 and the other is 89. There are several reasons why I found them amazing but the most powerful reason is that they survived. Neither one of them have had easy lives. There are several things in their lives that hope I never have to live through, but it has made them who they are today.

I heard some of their stories several times during those three days and I wanted to say, you told me that already, but I didn’t. I realized it must have been very important to them if they kept telling me about it and tried to see what they were trying to tell me.

We were there to help one of them go through some things and move items around in the house to make it easier for her to get around after a fall that has put her in a walker. As we were going through piles of papers and magazines, I saw her getting more and more agitated. Then she blurted out “stop trying to take away my life”. It struck me what was happening. We were holding her life in our hands and asking her to throw it away.

She had lived in this same home for 61 years, and every piece of paper reminded her of a good time or a not so good time in her life. Each time she looked at a book, a magazine with a page turned down she relived that moment in her life again. She was an avid crafter and seamstress, most of those things she enjoyed she is no longer going to be able to participate in again. Tubs of material and yarn that she won’t be able to use, but hopes that she will someday be productive again.

Titus 2 New King James Version (NKJV)

2 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: ² that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; ³ the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— ⁴ that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

          The Bible teaches us how to be older women and how to teach the younger women. If the Bible is telling us to teach younger women, doesn’t that indicate that the younger women should be listening to the older women? I consider myself an older woman; however, there are women who are older than me that I can learn life lessons from, and younger women that I teach.

        I learned this weekend some very important lessons:

•   We all have a story.
•   Don’t be full of yourself.
•   Don’t be ashamed of where you are life it is a journey.
•   Smile, laugh and speak kindly.
•   Always help someone else as much as you can.

Try and remember that whatever situation you are in, you can learn something from someone else.

Be kind everyone, someone you meet is hurting.

Your Perfect Family

     Family. What a great word. This word family conjures up so many different pictures in my mind as I am sure it does for you. We all have family, and different kinds of families that we are part of. I tend to picture Norman Rockwell pictures in my mind when I hear the word family. No, my family is not a Norman Rockwell family.
      We have the family we are born into, the family that we have chosen to be our extended family, our work family and our church family. We may even have more than those listed depending on your activities and associations. Notice that only one of these families is a group of people that we did not make a choice to join, the family that you are born into. Some have a wonderful family and others not so good.   


      It is up to you who you associate with and who spend time with.
When we use the word “associate” as a verb the definition is:  "To connect someone or something in your mind with someone or something else" This definition shows us that we are making that choice to spend time with certain people and activities.
        No matter what kind of family you were born into, you are an adult now and make your own choices as to who you associate with. God even speaks about this subject to us through His word.

    We all have characters in our families. You know the ones, they show up late to everything, the ones that you can count on to bring the gathering to life and the ones that secretly in the back of your mind, you hope don’t show up. We are an interesting group of humans.






          Romans 12:16  - Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.
     Notice that we are commanded to associate with all people; however I don’t believe that God wants us to be harmful to ourselves and continually associate with people that are not good for us. We should always strive to be compassionate and loving to all; however, surrounding yourself with healthy loving people that are supportive is what creates a great family.
      Do you make good choices about who you associating with? How much time do you spend with the families that you have chosen to be in your life?