My Epiphany

As I was doing the dishes this evening, a striking realization came to my mind. That tends to happen a lot when I am keeping busy. It seems that as my body works hard at a task, my mind works even harder. This evening, I was thinking about what my role is in life. I was thinking about all the people I look up to and all the good that they do. I realized that I could just do a little bit of all these good deeds and implement them into my life. While it was a great idea, I realized that God places before me what he has for me to do. Opportunities come when God ordains for it to happen.

And, like a flash of lighting, the pressure was gone. I cannot do everything, but I can be the best wife to Bill and mother to my two boys that I can. In doing so, I can learn to be a great cook, home decorator, cheerleader, financial planner, teacher, and worker. I can focus because I know where my focus is to be. I am a child of God, and can be at peace with the duties that God has set before me.

I pray you do that same. For those of you with kids, I encourage you to get my book Wisdom for the Journey in Parenting: 50 Simple Tips for Christian Moms and Dads, so that you can take the steps to be the best parent that you can be. In my book, you can learn to measure your work by God standards, instead of that of all the people around you. The profit from sales now through December 2018 for  will go to the Cleveland Pregnancy Center.

www.williamhseng.com

Thanks for reading!
~Melissa Seng

Top Five Food Finds for the Fall

As the weather starts to cool, we will be getting in the spirit of Fall. Fall, often times, means football, food, and family time. Here are some healthy ways to enjoy food this Fall...

5. Banza pasta - This pasta is made completely from chickpeas! It looks and tastes just like pasta. And for people, like myself, with sensitive stomachs, you will even feel great, too.

4. Simple Truth Vegetable Chips - They are crispy, salty, and delicious.

3. Simple Truth Vegetable Broth - For people that just want nothing to do with meat, this is a great way to make soup! Instead of using chicken stock, I love this option!

2. Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate with Hazelnuts - What better way to eat hazelnuts than in chocolate!?

1. Bigelow Orange Spice Tea - It's fruity with just the right amount of spice.

It is always a pleasure to share my newest food finds, as I know that people are always looking for healthy options for the family.

Thanks for reading!
~Melissa Seng

America, The Land of the Free!

Happy 4th of July Weekend! It's a great time to celebrate and be thankful to be an American. We live in the greatest country in the world. We live in a nation where we can pursue what can only be called the American Dream.

What is the American Dream? James Truslow Adams popularized the term in 1931 when he said that "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." Life can be better, richer, and fuller for all of us.

I want to address two questions that might come to mind. First, what does the American Dream look like? Second, is it a Christian pursuit?

First, what does it look like? It's not having what you want in life; it's earning what you want in life. If you want a small house on a farm, with some animals and a barn, it's having just that. If you want a big house with a swimming pool, and a sports car, and the ability to send your 5 kids to a private school for their education, its having just that. If it's becoming a doctor and going on vacation twice a year with your family, it's earning that degree and doing just that. If it's going on mission trips to help others or giving to one of the many non-profit organizations that do so much good for people all over the world, you are able to do that.

Second, is the American Dream a Christian pursuit? When we try to give our "humble opinion," we try to tell ourselves that we should not have anything good in this life and that only God's plan is of any significance. But, you are part of God's plan, and you can do many good things when you are in line with Him. God created us and said, "It is very good (Genesis 1:31)." He gave us the grass of the fields to enjoy, the animals to appreciate, and the food that was good to eat. And he gave family to reflect all that is good in Him. The American Dream can be a way of recognizing Jeremiah 29:11: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

God has blessed us is by creating a nation where the people are "One nation under God," and where we see blessings that come through faithfulness to His Word, in the form of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

I love Neil Diamonds song America. He sings about our ancestors coming to this great country, "without a home, but not without a star." I think about that star as hope in Jesus and direction from God, and I am thankful for our ancestors dream and pursuit to come to America.

Thanks for reading!

~Melissa Seng

Cheering Your Husband On This Father's Day

Father's Day is a few days away. It's the day that many fathers feel like they are just not good enough. Well, I want to encourage you in this blog to appreciate fathers a little more this Father's Day.

To the Fathers:

Fathers, you are amazing! Just being there for your kids is huge for helping them grow with confidence, security, and good character. Dr. James Dobson says in his book Bringing Up Boys that fathers being absent is the biggest contributor to criminal behavior in kids as they enter adulthood (2001). So, if you are present and spending time with your kids, you can take the pressure off of yourself. You are already making a positive impact on your family.

Dr. Dobson says that fathers need to be the leader, protector, and provider. As you, fathers, fill these roles you are giving your family the stability and structure that God desires for us to have.

To the Wives:

As women, we tend to think that we have to be eveything to everyone. When we are at home with our family, we just want to go out and change the world. When we are making a difference in the world, all we want to do is go home and be with our family. It's a tough battle. But, often times we just need to be the cheerleaders. We cannot be everything to everyone. Instead, we can provide encouragement to the ones closest to us, so that together, we can make a difference.

Keeping that in mind, we need to know that our husband can be a great influence in the world. Strong, courageous, and Godly men can put the world more at peace. We need to encourage them and be grateful for their strength in character and integrity. We need to know that they can have influence and we, too, can have influence. We impart wisdom, discipline, love, and care to our children. Those gifts will shine through them to thousands of people they will meet in their lifetime.

To All:

We aren't to compete with, but to compliment one another. As John C. Maxwell says on Minute with Maxwell, "It's a fact that we can do more together, but it's also a fact that we can be more together."

Thanks for reading!

~Melissa Seng

Dobson, James C. (2001). Bringing Up Boys. Tyndale House Publishers. 

Reading Through the Bible in a Year: An Unfathomable Achievement

I write this blog because I just stated reading a new NIV Women's Bible that my husband purchased for me. I was curious how long it would take me to read it if I actually started on page 1 and read straight through the entire Bible. My attention span is not very long, so most books I actually read from the back and go forward. I know it's strange, but it tremendously enhances my confidence that I can finish the book because I already reached the end. (I had to change my strategy in editing my husband's new book series because it's fictional.)

Anyways, I took 1400 pages, which is the length of my new Bible, and divided it by 365 days. I realized that to finish the Bible start to finish in a year, I would only have to read 4 pages a day! And that's not even full pages. That's one side of a page!

I tell you this to encourage you that reading the Bible in a year is not some unfathomable achievement. It's something that anyone can do, anyone that can read. I know our mind is the biggest mountain that stands in the way of any achievement. So, I hope that you remember, it's just 4 pages a day (which may vary slightly) and you are on your way through the entire written copy of the Word of God.

Thanks for reading!

~Melissa Seng

The Gift of Motherhood Far Outlives Mother's Day

Mother's Day is about catering to Moms. The family may take over the housework, cook dinner, and buy a gift for Mom to make her feel special. But, most often, what means most is the family being together: it's the greatest gift of all on Mother's Day. As Psalm 127:3 tells us, children are a blessing from the Lord.

As that special day has past only one week ago, I encourage Moms to recognize that every day matters. Every morning is a new opportunity to enjoy our kids and our spouse. Every morning is a new day to teach them, to read to them, to instill in them valuable lessons that can benefit them for their entire lives. It's a new day to show them patience, kindness, and compassion. Every day we are valuable to our kids.

I want to encourage Moms not to give in to the culture that tells us that money matters more than our kids. Our kids will not be kids forever. God gives us the gift of raising our kids only for a short time, and we need to remind ourselves to put our family first. Raising kids looks different in every home; however, sometimes we need to regroup and redirect our steps. As a mother, our roles can become complicated. But, I encourage you to always remember that motherhood is a gift because you mean the world to your kids.

My husband told me about a video he saw on Facebook  of a bee becoming attached to a person. Apparently the bee had lost its wings and was comforted in spending time on this person's hand. The bee would lay there and just be content. My husband even told me that it was "cute." That's a bee. How much more do our kids need us?

I pray you realize every day that you mean the world to your family.

Thanks for reading!

~Melissa Seng

School Shootings: How Do We Protect Our Children?

I start off by saying that today we have seen another school shooting in our great country. These events are heart-breaking, and the Bible tells us that evil is real. In Ephesians 6:12, we read "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against...the powers of this dark world and against the Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Our war is not against one another, it's not against the opposing side in politics; it's against evil. So, we need to work together, and work alongside the only force to oppose evil, that is the power of God. Psalm 34:13-15 tells us "Turn away from evil, and do good. Look for peace and go after it. The Lord looks with favor on those who are godly. His ears are open to their cry." We need to fight evil with good. And, we do so by working together to take care of our kids in school.

After seeing so many of these instances in the news, I wanted to write a blog with some ideas that could help. I am sure many of you have already thought to do these things, but I figured if we all reinforce change, we can see it happen.

1. Why not metal detectors in every school? They already exist in some schools, but why not make it a goal for them to be in every school. Many not well-to-do school districts have them, so I would guess that more well-to-do school districts could afford them, too.

2. Why not a police officer and police dog at every school? Recently, on Wednesday, an officer in Illinois was considered a hero for saving countless lives in what could have been a deadly school shooting. Now, two days later, a deadly school shooting happened in Texas, only weeks after a previous deadly school shooting in Florida. Explosives were found outside the school.

3. We need to keep in mind that drugs are illegal; however, so many young people fall trap to them. Making things (explosives, drugs, guns, knives) illegal does not do the trick.

I am thankful for so many police officers that protect the lives of people in this country every day, and I think it would be an honor for them to protect so many young people in our schools. I pray we consider these changes and make it happen.

Thanks for reading!

~Melissa Seng

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/18/us/texas-school-shooting/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/1049388018543086/UzpfSTE1MDEwMjYzODoxMDEwMDQ1NTQwNTY1NjcxMg/