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

Juliana has a group of girlfriends who laugh and giggle nonstop when they are together.  The sound of their laughter is contagious and I end up cracking up with them.  I love to have these girls around!

What do they laugh at?  Anything and everything!  They laugh at themselves making faces.  They laugh when mom and dad kiss.  They laugh when Troy flexes his biceps in High School Musical 3.   They laugh when someone farts.   Just being together brings about giggles and extreme joy.   

Here is an amusing fact:

Children laugh about 400 times a day, while adults laugh on average only 15 times a day.

If my calculations are accurate and children are awake 15 hours each day, kids laugh once every 2.25 minutes.  Now that is the way to live! 

They say, “Laughter is the best medicine”…. perhaps kids have one up on us!

My parents came in town for a surprise visit.  We are always so happy to have them although they have a very crazy habit of leaving for their drive home to Florida at 4:00am in the morning.  “Got to beat the traffic.”  I never hear them leave so we’ve learned to say our good-byes the night before their early take-off.

Everyone but Nathan.  Nathan hears everything.  He gets up at that crazy hour to give them one last hug and say good-bye.

I called my parents later that afternoon to make sure they made it home OK.  Dad told me about Nathan getting up and teasingly said, “Nathan will be the only one in our will.”  We all chuckled.

But Nathan immediately left the room heading straight for his computer with a sense of urgency.  “Mom, I’ve got to get an email to Granddaddy.  He’s got to know I love him, not his money!”

People matter….. who will you tell today that you love them?

This week-end, Juliana’s dance team had their “Debut Show” where the dancers performed their competition routines.  Michelle Rogers, who runs Miller Street Dance Academy, gave the dancers one of the best Pre-Show Talks I’ve ever heard.

Ms Michelle told the girls that she expected them to be respectful…. to their team mates, their teachers and their audience.   She warned the dancers that the event would be full of excitement, quick costume changes, perhaps even a bit of stress and during all the commotion, it was likely that a fellow dancer would bump into them, brush up against them, move their costumes, props or other personal belongings, make a mistake on stage or even not have a nice word to say….. Michelle’s Rule for Miller Street Dancers:  FORGIVE THEM!

She went on to explain that this was Show Biz…. things like this happen and that everyone of them had probably done these same things to someone else…. so they just needed to forgive each other.  And be quick to say they were sorry if they offended someone in any way.

Michelle went on to tell the girls to be nice to their mothers who were helping them in the dressing rooms.  (I loved this part!)  If they were not, Ms. Michelle promised to sit them down for a Pow-Wow.  She said there was nothing that made a young girl more unattractive than a frown or a bad attitude.  How right she is!

One final rule:  Be an encouragement to other dancers…. no matter what happens on stage.

Seems like the Show Biz rules are good rules for Life in general…. same types of things happen to everyone everywhere…..but what a difference it would make in our lives, our families, our communities, our country, our world…. if we’d follow these 5 Show Biz Rules:

1.  Be Respectful

2.  Be Quick to Forgive

3.  Be Quick to Say “I’m Sorry”

4.  Be Nice to Your Mother

5.  Be Encouraging to Others

We are adopting these Show Biz Rules at the Singleton house….. and I think we’re off to a winning season!

As I continue in my study of 1 Timothy, I came to 1 Timothy 2:1–4 (NKJV).  I like to call this passage God’s Recipe for Prayer: 

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Paul gives us Four Ingredients of Prayer:

1.  Supplication: asking for one’s own spiritual needs

2.  Prayers:  expressing devotion and adoration to God

3.  Intercessions:  praying for others

4.  Thanksgiving:  appreciation for what God has done

Whenever I read this passage, I like to evaluate my own prayer life.  Am I following God’s recipe for prayer?

1.  What are my own spiritual needs?

2.  How can I express my devotion to God?

3.  How can I pray for others in need of God’s help?

4.  What has God already done that needs to be on my “giving of thanks” list?

Most often I find areas I can improve upon. 

How about you?  How are you doing with God’s Recipe?

My morning quiet time found me in 1 Timothy 2:9–10 (NLT):

And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.

The Message puts it this way:

And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it.

The author discussed how a woman’s worry over her appearance (or choosing inappropriately) would be inconsistent with a woman professing godliness and how it can distract others from seeing her “good works.”  Even worse, it can actually backfire and make us un-attractive.  Too much focus on how we look can also prevent us from doing the good works God has planned for us to carry out.

I was left with these questions:

Does my appearance draw attention to an inner and balanced walk with God?  Am I doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it?  Does my life “attract” others to Christ?

Something to think about….

Last Friday, Rob and I celebrated Valentine’s Day with a very special date.  I arranged for friends to take Nathan and Juliana after school so Rob and I had the whole night to ourselves ~ just the two of us!  Since the kids were gone, we decided to stay at the Singleton Bed and Breakfast Inn… yep, we stayed home.  A perfectly fabulous night!

First, I surprised him with a couple’s massage then Rob took me to dinner and afterwards…. we headed home ~ to be alone.  This is where I learned something about my husband I never knew…. his all time favorite song: 

Remember “The Turtles” band?

Rob revealed their 1967 hit was his all time favorite song — ever!  I’m not kidding…

All the way home Rob played Happy Together and we laughed as we belted out the chorus So happy together… really glad no one heard us.  But as long as I’ve known Rob, I never knew that was his favorite song…. didn’t even think we were old enough to claim “The Turtles” as a favorite….

Imagine me and you, I do
I think about you day and night, it’s only right
To think about the girl you love and hold her tight
So happy togetherIf I should call you up, invest a dime
And you say you belong to me and ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be, so very fine
So happy together

I am so happy together with Rob.  And I love learning more about him…

Do you know your Valentine’s favorite song?

I saw these mailboxes at Target’s “Dollar Spot” and I couldn’t resist.  I got one for Nathan and one for Juliana…..Juliana’s mail box is decorated and looks really fun.  Nathan chose to leave his plain.  As it turns out, the kids came up with a system of leaving notes for me and anxiously waiting for a letter in return…. and I have to admit, I am all about this!

This past week we’ve left notes of encouragement for each other, silly jokes, a surprise $1.00 bill and a single Hershey’s Kiss….so much fun!  I never thought the kids would enjoy not just the boxes, but the fun of establishing their own mail system.  I’ve learned a good deal about what is important to my kids by what they write….  And I’ll keep it going as long as it keeps their attention. 

Try writing a love letter to your family today…. you just might be surprised how much it means to them.

Happy Valentines Day!

At the Singleton house, we celebrate birthweek.  This translates into 7 special days of honoring each family member.  Last week, we celebrated Juliana’s birthweek.  And what fun! 

To kick the week off, one of Juliana’s BFF (Best Friends Forever) surprised her with a chocolate cake she made herself.  With thoughtful love and consideration, Sammy decorated the cake with horses (Juliana absolutely adores horses).

Juliana was sweetly overwhelmed with Sammy’s kindness.  Not only did Sammy take the time to bake a cake, but she had really tuned in to Juliana’s love for horses and made that part of Juliana’s surprise.   

And what other ways do BFFs show their friendship?  With silliness of course!

When is the last time you surprised your BFF?  Made faces or simply hung out for some silly fun?  Don’t let these young girls have all the fun….  Take time to thank God for your BFF. 

And why not plan some silly fun and surprise her today?

Blessings,  

Michelle

Help!  I am being smothered by my husband’s latest toy.  My husband, the gadget guy, loves to explore the latest in technology advancements and while he waited and waited for this moment, he is now the proud owner of an iPhone.

I can’t get any work done at home.  He follows me around like a puppy dog with the phone showing me the latest games, tools and tricks.  He even brings the phone to bed with him …. seriously!

I have very little interest in the lastest technology trends….but thanks to Rob, I am well informed of the possibilities!  I once attempted to cure Rob’s obsession with his gadgets….didn’t work.  It did nothing to strengthen us as a couple.  That was early in our marriage.  I’m smarter now.

Marriage tip of the week:   If you can’t beat ‘em, why not join ‘em? 

So I am considering the competitor ~ a Blackberry Storm ~ just to keep things lively in our home….what do you think?

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Snow Cream… a silly rhyme I learned from my grandmother which I’ve passed along to my own children.  And that is what we did yesterday to end our very fun and unexpected Snow Day!

It is always a beautiful surprise to wake up with a blanket of snow on the ground…..I love it!  My kids love it because here in the Carolinas, even a small smattering of the while fluffy stuff cancels school….hurray!

And so we play outside, build snowmen, come in and dry our clothes then head back out for more playing and sledding….come in and dry our clothes and do it all over and over again….until the snow melts, which, also in the Carolinas, usually happens by the afternoon.

But no matter how much fun you have outside, a snow day is never complete without the perfect snow day dessert:  

SNOW CREAM!

Here is our family recipe:

• one nice size pot of snow
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 splash of vanilla

Stir all ingredients and serve….best when enjoyed with your family — all wearing PJs  — by a warm and toasty fire!

Enjoy!