Tom and Angel In The House

10/09/2020

A Tale of Two Farmers

by David Cerullo

I once heard a story about two farmers facing hard times…

These two farmers—neighbors—looked out over their dry, dusty fields without much reason to hope. There’d been a drought the year before, and the money in the bank was nearly as dried up as the land in front of them.

But the coming year promised to be the worst yet. As another season of drought was predicted in the forecasts, both farmers turned their faces toward Heaven and asked God to send the rain.

Weeks passed. Still there was no rain. If asked, both of them would have said they had faith in God to answer their prayers.

Yet only one of the farmers did something. He climbed on his tractor…plowed his fields…and planted seeds.

In time, God answered the farmers’ prayers and sent the rain. But only one farmer reaped a harvest. Why? Because regardless of what he saw in the natural, he believed God would bless the Seeds he planted in faith. He released the Seeds from his hand, and God released the harvest in His hand.

In difficult economic times like these, it can be a real challenge to faithfully sow our financial seeds into God’s Kingdom. If we’re afraid of not having enough, we can be tempted to hold on to whatever we have. And then when the devil comes stalking us like a roaring lion seeking to devour our health, finances, or relationships (1 Peter 5:8), we cry out to God in desperation.

To overcome the devil’s attacks, we must maintain an uninterrupted cycle of “letting go” of our Uncommon Seeds by Sowing bountifully into God’s Kingdom. While the WORLD’S economic system tells us to hoard, GOD’S economy tells us to give.

Instead of hoarding our Seeds, the Lord asks us to release back to Him what He has placed in our hands. Only then will we Reap His blessings in our lives and be covered by His supernatural provision and protection. He only can multiply what we Sow!

So what kind of farmer are you?

God wants you to walk in a loving, obedient, faith-filled relationship with Him—and then He wants to bless your finances, health, and relationships.

So give each Uncommon Seed you Sow a Specific Assignment for what you’re asking the Lord to do on your behalf. Wrap your Seeds with faith and expectancy, then wait patiently for your Harvest!

08/09/2020

A collection of instagram filter pranks that my daughter loooovvvvveeeessss. Haha

30/08/2020

Thank your Heroes.

29/08/2020

👍

What kind of children are we creating???

A few weeks ago, I had attended a birthday party of my daughter’s friend. There they played a game, the age old ‘Passing the parcel’, however, what was different was the way it was played. The child who was caught with the parcel when the music stopped was asked to leave the circle, but with that parcel as the gift, and then a new parcel was introduced. The game continued till every child got a gift. I asked the mother what was wrong with the earlier version, the version we had all grown up with.

She said – “I do not like kids to be disappointed. See, here every child is happy as he or she gets to take a gift home.”

In another instance, I was in the park with my daughter. She was playing lock and key with her friends. Now, one of her friends fell down. Her mother, who was on the other side of the park ran to his son, all confused and upset. She scooped her son in her lap and started inquiring – “Are you hurt? Let me see! Do no cry! Shush, mama is here.”

The child, had a scr**ed knee, who was perfectly OK till then, started crying earnestly.

I was at a friend’s home for lunch. Her 5-year old daughter refused to eat what was cooked for lunch. My friends felt so guilty that her daughter would go hungry, that she cooked up her favourite pasta immediately. According to her, it was not the first time this had happened.

At the School Sports Day, there are no races, no competition. No first, second or runner ups. Because, everyone is equal, there should be no competition between the kids.

Kids today have a room full of toys and games. Some they ask, some they do not. But, they still get them.

Everything in excess is the new mantra of life.

Our parents taught us self-reliance, while we hover around our children and want to protect them at all costs. We like to hold our babies closer to the protection of the nest. We go out of our way and rustle up something when they don’t eat what’s cooked at home for everyone else, because we don’t them to sleep hungry. Instead of letting them play outside, we organize activities for them. We do their homework and their assignments. We even resolve their conflicts for them.

It makes me wonder, what will happen to these kids when they grow up?

Will they get a gift everytime they fail? Will they be able to handle disappointment? A child who has never been denied anything, how will he cope with rejections? There are a growing number of cases when kids run away from home or commit su***de because they are not able to deal with low marks in examinations or when they fail to secure an admission in an institution of their choice.

Will their parents keep them hidden in their bosom all their life? Our mothers never ran after us, a scr**ed knee was just that. She would ask us to wash it with some water and then forget about it. But, there was no drama that followed.

Falling and hurting was a part of daily life for us. We cycled, climbed up trees and jumped from the stairs. Today, kids travel in elevators and escalators (because they might fall down the stairs and get themselves hurt). Earlier, kids walked and cycled. I hardly see kids walking nowadays, unless it’s for a kids’ marathon and they are required to pose for selfies with their cool mommies.

Will they shy away from competition or be able to survive it? OK, so we can accompany our kids till the college gate and sit in the waiting area while they appear for a job interview.

A child who is never used to losing – how will he survive in the big bad world?

We are raising our kids to be adult babies.

So what should we do?

Stop telling our children that they are special all the time. They are not, at least not always. So reserve the praises for the times when they actually deserve.

Stop going out of the way to create happiness in their life. The life is a mix of joys and sorrows, and it is for a reason. We have no right to interfere with the nature. So let’s stop pretending that everything is all right when it’s not. Let the kids have their fair share of disappointments at an early age. It’s better to fall at 10, than at 40 !!
------------------------shared by a friend.

23/08/2020

Headbangin’ wit ze daughterrrr

22/08/2020

Hi Moms and Dads,

Good day!

Just sharing this beautiful tool that we are using to monitor the online activities of our kids and it's helping us a lot.

Globally, kids spend more than 50% of their screen time on social media apps. Common Sense Media reports that kids & teens who spent the most time on Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and other social media apps showed substantially higher rates of addiction, distraction & depression.

Improve your child’s productivity and ability to concentrate without distractions and addictions from their favorite social media apps and games. On your Mobicip dashboard, you can:

✔️ View installed apps on your child’s device(s)
✔️ Block specific apps on your child’s device(s) based on usage
✔️ Block inappropriate/dangerous apps in advance (even before they are downloaded)
✔️ Block all apps except the ones you select using the “Approved Apps Only” setting.

Here's the link to sign up: http://bit.ly/Appmobicip

19/08/2020

Teachers also need support.

As a mom of two doing this school from home thing...I am even struggling to manage all the things needed to support my kids... How much more our teachers who are managing a class of 20? Each with different uncontrollable factors such as internet, workstation, equipment, environment , noise, etc.

It’s best if we team up. We are all adjusting.

Lets support the teachers too! They also want the best for their students.♥️

13/08/2020

❤️

02/08/2020

Sticks and Stones

We’ve all heard that saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I’m not sure who came up with that, but nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, the reverse may be truer. A broken bone often will mend better with less pain than a broken heart or a crushed spirit caused by disparaging words. And there is no more obvious example than the angry and insensitive words that come from the mouth of a father directed to his child.

As dads, we are entrusted with the physical, emotional, and spiritual welfare of our children. When we disparage the God-given characteristics of our children, we place weights upon the development of their self‐esteem, their learning capabilities, and their view toward the world and their place in it.

Even worse may be the epidemic of abusive and absentee fathers. The one common denominator of many of society’s ills—pornography, human trafficking, abortion, r**e, murder, alcoholism, teen su***de, and incarceration—can be traced to abusive and absentee fathers.

Men who have abdicated their roles as fathers are the single greatest problem in society today. Conversely, those fathers who have spoken words of encouragement and love to their children, mixed in with some good common sense, have sown into their hearts and minds the necessary ingredients for reaping healthy identities and self‐images that have propelled them to success in life.

In Ephesians 6:4, there’s an admonition for fathers to not exasperate their children. A modern translation states: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.“

Notice that discipline and instruction are not associated with getting your kids angry. Just the opposite. God’s ways of instruction and discipline are kind and gentle, achieving positive results in the hearts of children as they mature into well‐balanced adults.

Basically, what fathers SAY will determine their child’s way!

Question: Today, what one thing can you say to your children that will encourage them toward a positive outlook in life?




Credits to: Joe Pellegrino and Joe Battaglia

01/08/2020

Just last weekend, we had so much fun spending the day at the park with the kids. That was one of the few times since the pandemic that we could really say we were so focused on just having a great time playing with our children. Often times at home we are together but our minds are elsewhere thinking about work, doing calls, preparing for lunch, washing the dishes, looking for sales, & paying bills. So last Saturday, we made a conscious decision to give them our focus and time. These memories are the ones our children would treasure and bring with them until they grow old. Here's a short video of what our day was like 🙂

Cheers to all of us parents! Its not an easy journey.

God bless our families.

https://youtu.be/ilLukjtzHCE

One fine Saturday afternoon with the kids at the park. This was one of the best moments we've had together since the pandemic. It was so good to see them pla...