Post Up at Blissfully Domestic!

Woohoo!!! My first post is up at Blissfully Domestic!

It will look familiar to those of you who have been around here for awhile...It was so popular that it seemed like just the thing for BD.

10 Ways to Help Your Kids During Times of Stress

1. Model trust in God. When our children see that we are not afraid because we believe with all our hearts that God is in control, they will be more at peace. It will help their faith grow.

2. Give them spiritual encouragement. Read and memorize scripture together. Psalm 23 and Psalm 91 are great places to start. Pray for and with them.

3. Keep a peaceful atmosphere. Play calming music and minimize chaos and excessive noise.

4. Don’t take your stress out on them. It’s easy to become testy or withdrawn when we feel tense or concerned. Our kids need us to be even-tempered and approachable during times of stress more than ever.

5. Spend time together. Talk, read aloud, play games, go for a walk. This helps our kids feel secure.

6. Reassure. Encourage your children with your words, but also give lots and lots of hugs.

7. Establish some sort of routine. As a crisis drags out, it’s comforting to have a routine and a general plan for each day, as much as possible.

8. Feed them healthfully. Make sure they get a balanced diet, not too many weird or new foods, and not too much sugar. Keep them hydrated with plenty of water.

9. Make sure they get adequate rest. Not only do they need a usual amount of sleep, they may need an extra nap or early bedtime. Stress is exhausting.

10. Turn off the TV! In times of natural disaster, viewing destruction will only make your children feel powerless and afraid, especially if they know it’s where their homes, friends and family are. They don’t have the emotional filters we adults have, and it’s detrimental to allow devastating images to play in front of them over and over.

After Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav was a natural disaster second only to Hurricane Katrina. Why aren't you hearing this on the news? I don't know. Maybe because this is not New Orleans, because it "wasn't as bad as expected," because it's an election year and it's political, or because there are more sensational stories. Who knows.

Life is slowly returning to normal. Many, many people are still without power across the southern portion of the state. We anticipated a month to six weeks without power, so when the lights came on four hours after we returned home, we considered ourselves incredibly blessed!

A few more stores open each day. Some grocery stores are open, but every line at every register stretches to the back of the store. We were fortunate to be able to pick up a few items to carry us through until things are a bit more normal. I don't plan to shop for awhile. Although most people have been amazingly patient, tensions are still high for some. I feel more comfortable staying in, plus I don't want to wait in line for 2 hours with 4 little kids. During our evacuation, Billy's mom picked us a bunch of beautiful pears from the old pear trees on family property, so we're blessed with fresh fruit. These pears are a hard variety that last a long time.

By the time we returned, a lot of cleanup had already taken place, so the roads were at least passable. There are still huge trees down everywhere. Yesterday Billy and some other staff members from our church helped a lady whose home was destroyed by an enormous oak. Billy said it was so big two men reaching around it could barely touch hands.

We'll finally be able to have church services again Sunday. Sunday is also my 30th birthday, and I can't think of a better gift!

I'm A Blissfully Domestic Contributor!!!

Woohoo!!! Power is back MUCH sooner than anticipated and things are getting back to normal just a bit.

I recently discovered the wonderful world of Blissfully Domestic and I was thrilled to death when the opportunity came up to become a contributor to their home and garden channel. I'm a little behind the rest of the new contributors (thanks to Gustav), but I should have something up soon.

Gustav

Hello everyone, our home was in the path of Hurricane Gustav so I won't be able to post for 4-6 weeks. God was very good and we are all fine, but life won't be back to normal for some time. I will post on CharityGrace as soon as I can!