michellesingleton.com // Confessions of the Preacher’s Wife

After hours of Mother’s Day festivities, my “famished” kids and husband voted a stop at Moe’s for a dinnertime “snack” before we headed home.  I was all for it since it got me out of cooking.

We ordered our food and began chowing down.  Nathan finished his quesadilla first and struggled having to stay in his seat.  I cut him some slack.  I mean he did sit through 4 church services this week-end!

I decided to put Nathan’s energy to good use, so I sent him off to clear tables.  His laughter caught our attention.  In no time, Nathan was wadding up the trash he had gathered into balls and shooting them into the trash can.

“Hey Nathan, a restaurant is no place to practice your game,” shouted Rob. 

But Rob can’t resist an opportunity for competitive sport of any kind and before I could speak, my two boys had engaged in a serious game of “one-on-one,” right in the middle of the restaurant! 

Juliana and I would not be left out.  We made up a cheer and joined the fun, completely oblivious to any spectators…yikes!  We might hear about this later. 

I thank God for fun family times.  And for busy families, like most of us are, I think it is wise to grab hold of “fun” whenever the opportunity arises.

For me, shooting hoops at Moe’s was the perfect ending to a wonderful Mother’s Day! 

Wishing you some Family Fun!

Michelle

A friend gave this to me at the Y.  I’ve seen it before.  I liked it then and I like it now.  I think it was first published about 8 years ago.

Enjoy the read!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle-income family.

Talk about sticker shock. That doesn’t even touch college tuition.

For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about all the things we could have bought, all the places we could have traveled, all the money we could have banked if not for (insert child’s name here).

For others, that number might confirm the decision to remain childless.

But $160,140 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month or $171.08 a week.

That’s a mere $24.44 a day. Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice says don’t have children if you want to be rich. It’s just the opposite.

There’s no way to put a price tag on:

Feeling a new life move for the first time and seeing the bump of a knee rippling across your skin.

Having someone cry, “It’s a boy!” or shout, “It’s a girl!” then hearing the baby wail and knowing all that matters is it’s healthy.

Counting all 10 fingers and toes for the first time.

Feeling the warmth of fat cheeks against your breast.

Cupping an entire head in the palm of your hand.

Making out da da or ma ma from all the cooing and gurgling.

What do you get for your $160,140?

Naming rights. First, middle and last.

Glimpses of God every day.

Giggles under the covers every night.

More love than your heart can hold.

Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds and warm cookies.

A hand to hold, usually covered with jam.

A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sand castles and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain. Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs and never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to keep reading the adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons, going to Disney movies and wishing on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray-painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, handprints set in clay for Mother’s Day and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day.

For $160,140, there’s no greater bang for your buck.

You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off the bike, removing a sliver, filling the wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front-row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren.

You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications and human sexuality no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there with God. You have the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost.

Kids may seem a bit pricey.  Whether your a mom or a dad, the rewards of being a parent are priceless!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Michelle

Ever had one of those crazy weeks?  Welcome to my world!

I am helping Rob out with the Mother’s Day sermon and par for the course, life always gets extra crazy when he recruits me.  I’d appreciate your prayers…I am not comfortable “up front” like Rob is.  Not at all.  Thanks! 

Looking forward to seeing you this week-end at Southbrook!

Blessings,

Michelle

Several times each year, I take my patients through a Purification Program utilizing whole food supplements, whole, organic and unprocessed food, and water to cleanse the body so that they can have more energy, maintain a healthy weight and improve digestion.

Why do I do this?  Purification, also known as detoxification, helps remove natural toxins from the body and helps my patients maintain a healthy weight.  We are exposed to external toxins everyday including pollutants, pesticides and chemicals.  There are 80,000 synthetic chemicals registered for use in the United States.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports hundreds of these chemicals are present in our bodies.

Internally our bodies produce waste byproducts as a result of normal metabolic function.  Although God designed our bodies to rid itself of these toxins naturally, it can become overburdened. 

Purification offers the body additional support to expel toxins and minimize weight which is important to maintain health and vitality.

What about our spiritual body?  How is it affected by the bombardment of the toxins the world throws our way each day?  Toxins like temptations to lie, cheat, visit websites that should be blocked, flirt outside God’s marriage boundries.  These toxins often start off as innocent gestures.  But if we let them to accumulate, they will lead us down a road to destruction and doom. 

This was David’s prayer in Psalm 51:10 (NKJV): 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

To prevent spiritual toxic build-up, we must purify ourselves each day by prayer, reading God’s Word and by fellowship with other believers.  These spiritual disciplines promote a healthy relationship with our Maker and will lead us down the road to a vital Christian life!

Blessings in the Purification Process,

Michelle

When Rob and I go out, my biggest delimma is not what clothes I will wear, but what shoes I will wear.  The deciding factor for me is always, “Are we going to walk?”  I have ugly, painful feet.  It is true.  After years of running and exercise and the fact that I was blessed with a hereditary bunion, I have become a comfort shoe seeker rather than a style seeker.  I certainly don’t want a shoe that fits too tight or too snug.

There is a saying:  “Don’t let the shoe tell the foot how big it can become.”  In other words, “Get a bigger shoe.”

We are so blessed at Southbrook to have a bigger shoe being built.  Have you seen it?  Our new building is well under way.  The changes we have seen at Southbrook have taken us from a small group that met in our family room … to a swim club … to a elementary school all-purpose room … (there was a theater somewhere along the way) … to a high school … to our present building … and now this … with video campuses popping up everywhere … Wow!  The change was been quick and drastic!  “GO GOD!”

God trusts us to take care of His blessings.

More people are alive today without the hope of Jesus Christ than at any other time in history.  “How can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in him?  And how can they believe if they have never heard about Him?”  Romans 10:14, NLT

There is no greater work we can do than to tell others about the love of God through Jesus Christ.

I promise to take on Rob’s Sunday Challenge.  How about you?  Join me in bringing our friends to Southbrook … let them catch our excitement!  A bigger shoe is on the way!

Blessings,

Michelle

The changes over the last 100 years have been quick and drastic to say the least.  But they are nothing compared to the most amazing changes I see each week at Southbrook. 

Not a week goes by when someone doesn’t put their trust in Jesus Christ.  There is nothing like it! God takes a life that was headed toward eternal separation from Him and places that person within His very own family to spend forever with Him.  This is drastic.  And the change is instantaneous from the time a person puts their trust in Jesus.

If one measurement of success is “progress” or change, then salvation is spiritual success.  And it is available to everyone.  But the price tag of eternal life is not payable on our own.  Only Jesus could pay the price for us.  He did!  And that is worth celebrating ~ just a thought!

Do you know someone who is desperate for spiritual success?  Change?  Bring them to Southbrook this week-end.   And let them meet God’s amazing grace…….

Blessings,

Michelle

This is a continuation of yesterday’s post where we looked at normal in 1908.  Today, let’s take a look at “normal” in 2008.

*  Population of America is 300 million.

*  136 million vehicles in America ~ wow!  One for every 2.2 people!

*  There are 5.7 million miles of paved highway in America.

*  The top 10 major airline carriers offer 17,000 scheduled passenger flights each day!  This number doesn’t include commercial flights, recreational or commuter flights.

*  99.9% of the homes in America have electricity…and indoor plumbing!  Have you used an outhouse lately?

 *  As for TVs ~ I can’t count that high?  Do you know anyone without at least one TV in their home?

*  Radio is everywhere:  cars, homes, elevators, offices, and the Top 40 sure beats Morse Code.

*  Average work week is 40 hours.

*  Divorce rate is 50%.

*  Life expectancy for a white man is 79 years, 73 years for a black man.

*  Top causes for death are heart disease and cancer.

*  And what about telephones?  Do you know anyone without a mobile phone.  And phones today take pictures, text, and keep your daily life in order!

Compare “normal” in 1908 for our Grandparents to “normal” in 2008 for us:  Our Grandparents could not even imagine what life would be like today!

Yet when you think about the duration of civilization, 100 years is a relatively short period of time.  And look how far we’ve come!  The point is change can come quickly and it can be drastic!

Has anyone seen change in their lives?  Does anyone want to?  I’ll continue this post tomorrow.

Blessings in the Change,

Michelle

Last week I attended a business conference on management and leadership.  One speaker spoke about “change” and how very possible change can be.  I found myself applying his ideas for change to many areas of my life including my spiritual life, my family and home life and of course in my Chiropractic practice click here . 

The speaker pointed out what normal life looked like for our Grandparents and for some of us, our Great Grandparents.  Take a look at “normal” in 1908 (the turn of the century):

*  The population of America was 87 million.

*  There were 200,000 cars (no air conditioning, seat warmers, GPS system).  Henry Ford introduced his Model T (cost was $850 brand new).

*  Of the 2 million miles of rural public roads, fewer than 160,000 miles were “surfaced” — with either gravel, stones or crude paving materials.

*  The Wright Brothers were still taking “trial” flights (traveling at an altitude of 200–400 feet at 40 mph).

*  Indoor plumbing was still a “pipe dream” for most people.

*  7% of Americans had electricity in their homes.

*  No TV yet ~ what did they do?

*  Major use of radio was on ships for navigation using Morse Code.

*  Average work week was 60 hours.

*  Divorce rate was 10%.

*  Life expectancy for a white man was 49 years, 35 years for a black man.

*  Top causes for death were pneumonia and tuberculosis.

*  And what about telephones?  Multiple party lines — no mobile phones.

Check in tomorrow for a comparative look at how far we’ve come in a short 100 years!

Blessings in Progress,

Michelle

Two weeks ago Rob was not scheduled to preach so we took the opportunity to travel to Atlanta.  If you’ve been keeping up with his blog click here , then you know that we had a ball at the Georgia Aquarium celebrating Nathan’s birthday.  We also spent Sunday visiting NorthPoint Church click here .

It was an amazing visit.  As we met with their staff and talked with volunteers, we saw that their hearts were sold out to Jesus and being involved in His Kingdom work.  They were completely united and commited to serving Christ by following their pastor and his vision for their church.  And they worked with such excellence, my socks were bown off! 

 Seriously! 

It was obvious they took Colossians 3 to heart:  Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.  (Message)

It was inspiring and motivating for me and Rob was encouraged as well. 

We were told several times that God is ready to do even bigger things through Southbrook as we follow Pastor Rob and the vision God has given him. 

With our construction moving right along and the changes this will bring, I can hardly wait to see all that God has in store for Southbrook.

Get ready to have your socks blown off!

Blessings,

Michelle

My kids are growing up way too fast.  Last week, Rob confessed to Juliana that we actually help the Tooth Fairy out.  She can get just about anything out of him.  Juliana has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. 

This confession upset me.  Not so much that Rob spilled the beans, but that another magical childhood chapter in Juliana’s life was coming to a close.  Each stage of my children’s lives seems to get even better than the one before ~ just how is that possible? 

I don’t know, but they do.  So why am I always a bit sad when they move on?

This confession brought tears to my eyes and I could barely get the words out as I prayed for them before school in the parking lot.  Go ahead.  Call me a wimp if you will!  Sign me up for counseling!

I admit it.  Looking back, it must have been quite a sight.  But Nathan and Juliana were sensitive to their mother falling apart over the fairy.  “Now the Tooth Fairy won’t come if you don’t believe,” I sobbed.  

Nathan put his arms around me and gave me a big hug.  Juliana tenderly looked me in the eyes, “I still believe in you, Mom.  You can still come.”  

That was all I needed.  Nathan’s hug and Juliana’s sweet words.

My prayer for all you readers is that God will bless you with someone who believes in you.  And even if no one will, that God will show you a person who needs to know you believe in them!

Blessings,

Michelle

P.S.  The Tooth Fairy will still come to the Singleton house.  By the way, what is the going rate for a cavity free tooth?