When Angry, Count to Four; When Very Angry, Swear.

First of all, before you say anything, I have no idea what is wrong with Blogger. I don't believe I violated any TOS agreement unless calling the folks who did the math problem sad, is considered libelous. :D

Anyway, I don't generally get all preachy here, but today I'd like to talk about forgiving your enemies.

"But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." ~ Matthew 5:39

"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind." ~ Mohandas Gandhi

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." ~ Mother Teresa

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." ~ Mohandas Gandhi

Now this does not mean that we should let people beat us up, knock us down and be weak. Absolutely not. Forgiving does not mean you're weak. Quite the contrary, in fact. It means that although our first, gut reaction when we've been wronged, is to lash out and seek vengeance, we should not. We should do good instead. We shouldn't want to keep score. We should love and forgive. It takes a strong person to do that.

Yes, I know that this is not natural at all. And it certainly isn't easy. It's very, very difficult for grown adults to find the grace to forgive those, who in our mind, don't deserve forgiveness. But we as adults, as parents, as role models, have to model this behavior if we want our children to learn it. How many times have you lost your temper and yelled or said something that you probably shouldn't have said around little ears. Even if those little ears didn't hear you say to clean up their room twenty times, you can bet they heard the word that slipped out of your mouth and you can most assuredly bet that they'll pick the absolute most inopportune time to repeat said word. Teacher conferences, the middle of the grocery store, quiet prayer time at church, and when the inlaws are visiting are all ideal places for your child to show off their newly acquired four letter word. I learned this when my little one started walking around saying, "Crap". Ahhh proud moments. Anyway, my point is that little ones learn from example.

Just like you want to set an example of helping people, putting others before yourself, cheerfully (at least sometimes) doing your chores to keep your household running smoothly, and telling the truth, you need to set an example of how to treat others, even those who have wronged you, for your children.

I believe that only God can give us the strength to love as He does. Because of that, we can pray for those who have wronged us instead of plotting our revenge.

Ok, I'm done being all preachy now. :)

"Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much." ~ Oscar Wilde

"When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear." ~ Mark Twain just make sure the kids aren't around first! I love Mark Twain. Now he had a fabulous sense of humor!

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A couple notes - thank you to all of you guys who took the time to write out your meatloaf recipes. I guess we can use those when supper swapping, right? :)

Thank you to everyone who writes me comments and sends me emails. I'd sure love to answer all of them, but I was going a little crazy trying to do that along with handling everything else on my plate, so I hope you understand that I just cannot answer every email and fulfill every request.

Oh yeah - I almost forgot! CBS is coming out next week to interview me and they're flying me to New York to be on the morning news! I get to go to New York by myself for a day! Just long enough to get a nice break without missing the little ones too much. I'm so excited! I'll update with details as to what time I'll be on t.v. Eeeeeek! The best part is - I'm going to meet up with two dear friends of mine who live on Long Island and CT and it's a good thing I am. I've never hailed a cab before so I need them to help me out or I fear I'll stand there on the curb looking like a dorky tourist all day and I'll never make it back to the airport!

And finally, because I think there are probably many parents who have a crib included in the recall, I wanted to put a little more information about it on here.....