In 2008 I Resolve To…
Dec 31, 2007 Unplugged Authentcity
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- Continue to say no when my plate is almost full. Gotta save room for a really good dessert.
- No longed allow a person to ever make me feel as if I am unworthy of what God has in store for me. Shame on me for wallowing in the pit with them.
- Take myself out on a date even if all I do is walk around the mall.
- Go where God leads. My success depends upon His guidance in my life.
- Release the weight that is holding me down. I have already released quite a few “friends” and acquaintances.
- Look in the mirror and like what I see.
- Be a better steward with those things I have been entrusted with.
- Get My money straight.
- Continue to walk my authentic walk.
Those are my resolutions.
My Motto: Removing the Unnecessary Weight in 2008
My Theme: Balance
My Song: Just Fine by Mary J. Blige
The Perfect Mom - Guest Blogger Darlene Hull
Dec 30, 2007 Unplugged Authentcity
I am very excited to have Darlene Hull as our first Unplugged Mom Guest Blogger. I have been getting her newsletter about becoming a Defrazzled Mom for over a year. It is great. You can read her unplugged contributions today and Wednesday.
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I sat there on Christmas Eve observing our living room?s state of mild disarray. The gifts were wrapped (though rather awkwardly) but the advent wreath was on the floor ? minus its candles - where it was moved when we set up some games on the dining room table three weeks earlier. Christmas cards received were in a pile on the kitchen counter, and I was missing most of my Christmas CD?s. To make matters worse, here it was, 9:00 in the evening, and I couldn?t find the Christmas stockings. I?d seen them somewhere in the last three weeks, but I couldn?t remember where.
As I sat there in despair, I thought of a friend of mine. A pastor?s wife and mother of 6 kids ranging from 6 to 18, I knew that at her place everything was looking like a Christmas card. The house would have been tidy and beautifully decorated, baking (tons of it) would have been done, a fantastic Christmas morning breakfast was probably waiting in the fridge, music would have been playing softly in the back ground, packages would have been artistically wrapped with ribbon and gift tags, and all the stockings (hand made) would have been hanging over the hearth.
I suddenly felt totally inadequate as a mom.
I tearfully expressed my failings to my husband who came home a while later, and he looked surprised, and replied that that is all my friend does ? she?s a mom, and she loves it. Loves cooking, cleaning, decorating, nurturing, cuddling, preparing. That?s what she does with her time. I, on the other hand, mother alongside everything else I?m doing. My husband reminded me that night that my friend probably had not spent the last 3 weeks single handedly preparing three Christmas Eve services. She had probably not spent several days at the church loading video clips, finding backgrounds to song lyrics, and rehearsing a solo along with a dozen Christmas carols. She does not have a home business, nor does she homeschool her kids.
It was a wake-up call. Something I know to be true, but often forget. Both my friend and I are great moms ? but it just looks different from the outside. I don?t have any of the traditional mothering skills, but I know how to raise great kids.
However, even though I?m not great at any of the domestic stuff, I am great at giving my kids many, very different experiences, and countless opportunities to explore life in all its fullness. My kids are balanced, happy, intelligent, curious, hilarious, interesting, and delightful ? and they?re teenagers!
Next Christmas I may still not have any of the decorations in place, and it will probably still be a jumble of activity and chaos, but it will be a family celebration ? OUR family celebration, warts and all.
After all, I am the one God called to raise these kids and therefore, I am the perfect mother for them. They need both my strengths and my weaknesses to be everything God has called them to be. And if they want better domestic training to be able to be more ?traditional? parents, well, they can always ask my friend for help and advice!
About Darlene:
Darlene Hull is an ordinary, imperfect, mom who came to her mothering role with NO natural skill or gifting. Having taught herself how to spend her whole day in her weaknesses instead of her strengths without going crazy, Darlene now helps other moms do the same.
Darlene is presently a happily married, homeschooling mom of two teenagers and can now manage her household with grace and humor. She is even able to keep up with the cleaning most days, though she tries not to overdo it!
Darlene is also a speaker, facilitator, coach, writer, and the creator of the Mom-Defrazzler.
Read more about how you can become a featured Unplugged Mom on the Net.
An Eye Opening Unplugged Moment for Me
Dec 27, 2007 Unplugged Moments
Last night I had a serious conversation with God. I mean one of those one where I was blubbering, snottin’ and all that stuff.
This year my goal was to see glimpses of heaven and I did in so many ways. However, I think I wanted all the good stuff and none of the bad. Don’t you know I was so wrong to expect that?
You see when God shows you the glimpses He will show you the good, the bad, and the ugly. Not that heaven is bad and ugly but the pieces of me that are bad, ugly, and in need of some serious adjusting.
So in essence God not only showed me glimpses of heaven but glimpses of LaTara too. I think that is because I worked so hard at being closer to Him than ever before. I wanted our relationship to flourish because I had been so angry with Him in the past few years. I blamed God for so much that was going wrong, only to realize that it was not Him at all.
It was ME!
I needed to realize where I went wrong in my life. My struggle has been a result of my mind set and the fact that wrapping my head around my inner beauty was not even in my memory of who I am in God’s eye. I am the Apple of His Eye!
I could not see that because my mind was clouded…..just full of unnecessary stuff.
Sure I am at a point of knowing better; but after thirty something years in a pit that I was thrown into and chose to just live in, when you come out there are so many bags to unpack and sort through.
Maybe that is why my main goal for 2008 is to remove all the unnecessary weight: Physical, mental, and even spiritual.
I was up until about 12:00 or 12:30 just talking to God about where I am in my marriage and with my finances.
My marriage is better than it has ever been in the 5 short years we have been together but my finances….WOO now that’s another story.
I am trying to gain a footing but I keep slipping. It is hard when your husband does not get it and so he doesn’t support it much because he thinks it is more of a hobby. Well, this is an area where our marriage is hurting but I am ok with it because you know what it is what it is.
I had to be very honest with myself and say that because I did not handle certain issues right, then I am at a point of having to close down my sites. That hurts but it is the truth. Seeing all red and no black even after you put in so much effort can hurt. In just a few short days it will be that time again…time to pay some bills…..and I just can’t do it right now.
You know it would be different if I were in a whole lot of debt but I am not. However can see myself going that way if I don’t get a grip.
This was my biggest dilemma during my yell fest with God. He didn’t yell but I sure did.
I do the work, follow the rules, and push yet it is like I am trying to get juice from turnips. I can’t pick up that $10 report because I can’t even pay a $10 bill. I can’t get that Dave Ramsey book I want, and probably need, because I can’t see beyond the red.
RED! RED! GO TO BED!
I know! I know this too shall pass. However, I am at a standstill! I have no idea how things will get paid to maintain my business.
My man just does not get that it is a business and he has two sub-contractors to pay, so rent, food, gas, and lights come before what I need for business.
So I am going to hold on until the first of the month, that start of a New Year and see what happens. If I find the funds then Praise God and even if I don’t and I have to shut the doors on it all then Hallelujah anyhow and I will still praise Him.
This is an unplugged moment for me because I am accepting things as they are. Normally I would try to rob Peter to pay Paul but I can’t keep living my life like a charity case. I gotta get beyond that. So I am accepting where I am.
I am trying to look at things through some rose colored glasses and tell myself that if I have to shut it all down then maybe there is just something different for me to do or maybe I need to take the stuff offline.
Still trying to figure all this out. I know God will guide me because for once in a long time, I am all ears.
I can’t do anything else but listen!
Sunday Testimony
Dec 23, 2007 Sunday Testimony
Well I think this song by Mary J. Blige says it all. So here is this Sunday’s Testimony
Just Fine (Mary J. Blige)
You know I love music
And every time I hear something hot
It makes me wanna move
It makes me wanna have fun
But it?s something about this joint right here
This joint right here
Its makes me wanna?..Woooh
Let it go??
Can?t let this thing called love get away from you
Feel free right now, go do what you want to do
Can?t let nobody take it away, from you, from me, from we
No time for moping around, are you kidding?
And no time for negative vibes, cause I?m winning
It?s been a long week, I put in my hardest
Gonna live my life, feels so good to get it right
So I like what I see when I?m looking at me
When I?m walking past the mirror
Don’t stress through the night, at a time in my life
Ain?t worried about if you feel it
Got my head on straight, I got my vibe right
I aint gonna let you kill it
You see I wouldn?t change my life, my life?s just?..
Fine (6x) ooooh
Fine(6x) ooooh
Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh
You see I wouldn?t change my life, my life?s just fine
Feels so good, when you?re doing all the things that you want to do
Get the best out of life, treat yourself to something new
Keep your head up high
In yourself, believe in you, believe in me
Having a really good time, I?m not complaining
And I?m a still wear a smile if it’s raining
I got to enjoy myself regardless
I appreciate life, I?m so glad that it’s fine
So I like what I see when I?m looking at me
When I?m walking past the mirror
Aint worried about you and what you gonna do
I?m a lady so I must stay classy
Got to keep it hot, keep it together
If I want to get better
See I wouldn?t change my life, my life?s just?..
Fine(6x) ooooh
Fine(6x) ooooh
Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh
See I won?t change my life, my life?s just fine
I ain’t gon? let nothing get in my way
(I ain’t gone let nobody bring me down, no, no, no)
No matter what nobody has to say
(No way, no way, no way)
I ain?t gon? let nothing get in my way
No matter what nobody has to say
Feels so good, when you?re doing all the things that you want to do
Get the best out of life, treat yourself to something new
It?s a really good thing to say
That I won?t change my life, my life?s just fine
Fine(6x) ooooh
Fine (6x) ooooh
Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh
See I won?t change my life, my life?s just fine
So I like what I see when I?m looking at me
When I?m walking past the mirror
Don’t stress through the night, at a time in my life
Ain?t worried about if you feel it
Got my head on straight, I got my vibe right
I ain?t gonna let you kill it
You see I wouldn?t change my life, my life?s just?..
Fine(6x) ooooh
Fine(6x) ooooh
Just fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, ooooh
You see I wouldn?t change my life, my life?s just fine
I always choose a Mary song for my yearly anthem. This one is for 2008. I wouldn’t change my life because God has made it just fine.
Looking for a Few Unplugged Moms
Dec 22, 2007 Unplugged Moments
OK so I am ready to open up this blog to some guest bloggers. If you have a blog and you are a mom, then I am looking for you.
So what am I looking for…
- A mom who has learned how to remove the Superwoman cape and be who she is.
- A mom who has an active blog where she posts at least twice per week.
- A mom who loves sharing her story of authenticity with other moms.
What will this mom do…
- Contribute one or two posts on this blog
- Let your blog readers know about your contribution to Mom Unplugged
What are some topics this mom can talk about…
- Her journey to becoming more authentic
- How she removed the superwoman cape
- How precious her life is to her
- Why she is out of the socket
- God’s blessings upon her life
- Tips on how to be more authentic
- How move beyond their comfort zone
- And so many more unplugged topics
Well that is it. If you are an Unplugged mom and would like to be a guest blogger contact me today.
More Talk with Trica
Dec 22, 2007 Unplugged Authentcity
Ok so Trica answered my question over at Dragon Fly Dreams and I am a couple of days late getting to her question but here we go.
Tell me more about your Work from Home job
I came upon Vegan Family Living sorta accidentally. No, let me say it was all God! Kelly McCausey and Marlo Boux led me towards a decision that changed my world. It also helped to catapult me into a new phase of thinking about myself.
A story for another time, but it is a goodie.
Vegan Family Living is all about the new or transitioning vegan. Even the person who is stuck in vegan convenience food rut will benefit from dropping in on Vegan Family Living. It is my goal to show how simple and beneficial it is to actually cook a vegan meal. I also want to provide support through tools and resources for the wondering vegan cook.
As I share about vegan cooking I try to make it plain for the meat eater as well. Because there are many who are more vegan than they actually think and even more who would benefit from eating a vegan meal or two per week.
As a Vegan Cooking Coach I not only share about cooking but a more natural way of life. I love living a more natural way of existence. First because it as God intended and second it makes life so much more meaningful to me.To know that I am working at regaining the power of nature in my life and that of my family’s is a good feeling.
I have a newsletter, a paid ezine subscription and a few more things in the works.
I just did an Extreme Makeover for the site and I am getting great feedback so far. I did it because the old site was just not as user friendly as I would have liked for it to be. With the new look it is good for me and for the visitors.
Vegan Family Living may not be earning me the income I want but people are learning and growing as result of what is shared through the site.
My 2008 goal is to complete me holistic nutritionist certification so that I am even more aware of the power of food as it pertains to our health. I know that God has given me the call to minster on the importance of Practical Living through Natural Health and Vegan Family Living is a part of that ministry.
I try to look at my life as a ministry and so for me that includes business. The Bible speaks often on business and yet too many times we try to separate the two. That is just impossible to do.
Right now I am listening to God for direction one a new site, Natural From Home. I am excited to see what He will give me to do with it.
Our God is an awesome God!
You really have to excuse me because God has shown me so much this past year and I dare not deny Him His glory!
Ok Trica here is a question for you…
What is one life lesson you want to make sure your children understand?
Cross Blog Conversation with Trica
Dec 16, 2007 Unplugged Authentcity
So Trica answered my question over at Dragon Fly Dreams about what the title of her blog says about her, and it was a pretty good answer. So she asked me another question and it is more loaded than she thinks.
Here is her question:
What is the average day like in your household?
An average day in my home is simple until my husband enters our world. In other words when he is home, it is anything but normal.
But for the most part we get up around 7:00pm and start breakfast. Usually my husband or teen ager cook because I am just not a breakfast person. I will eat on fruit or dry cereal with a cup or tea or coffee before I cook. So my husband, who is either up before me will cook, or my son AJ when we all get up.
I am actually in my room reading the Bible, my devotions, and praying with my prayer group first thing in the morning. I come out of my room around 9:00 and do my morning chores. I homeschool Breahane (4yr old) for about 30 minutes and then let him play while I do some chores or work. Alexander schools online and I don’t have to work with him unless he has a specific question.
If my husband needs any invoices or contracts drafted I will do those and send any faxes.
After lunch I homeschool Brehane for about another hour and then we do our crafts. He is easy to homeschool because he is only 4.
By the time we are done with crafts AJ is finished with school and I start work.
That’s when the day gets really crazy. My husband forgets it is my time to shine and calls me to look up stuff, find this or that or to just talk. Brehane forgets that AJ is available and tries to take up all the little time I have. Then the phone rings and I forget where I was.
I tell ya it is the pits sometimes.
Dinner is ready by 6:00pm everyday and Brehane is sleep by 8:00pm. For some reason he just refuses to nap in the day time because he says “The Sun is not down yet mommy.”
I work more effectively after 8:00 and will do so until about 10 or 11. That’s when I relax first and then hit the sack. It is not good to go from work to bed. Too much stimulation.
That’s pretty much it.
Of course we have our days for errands, running the streets, worship, taking trips, and just doing nothing.
But this is a typical day.
Trica now I have a question for you…
What do you find most challenging about working from home?
Sunday Testimony: I Won’t Complain
Dec 16, 2007 Power Source
Right now there are things going on in my life that I could gripe on forever and a day. My family is really hurting financially, but I also know that it is a matter of a mind set change that can change that issue. So as I was thinking on things I thought about an article I read in December issue of the WC Mini-Mag by Kelly McCausey and then I remembered a gospel song that I used to love sing when I was going through.
It reminded me of all my blessings and the reasons why I Won’t Complain. I may be having a financial set back and the devil might be on my heels, but, like that song says, when I look around and think things over….I Won’t Complain.
I Won’t Complain
by Paul Jones
I’ve had some good days
I’ve had some hills to climb
I’ve had some weary days
And some sleepless nights
But when I look around
And I think things over
All of my good days
Outweigh my bad days
I won’t complain
Sometimes the clouds are low
I can hardly see the road
I ask a question, Lord
Lord, why so much pain?
But he knows what’s best for me
Although my weary eyes
They can’t see
So I’ll just say thank you Lord
I won’t complain
The Lord
Has been so good to me
He’s been good to me
More than this old world or you could ever be
He’s been so good
To me
He dried all of my tears away
Turned my midnights into day
So I’ll just say thank you Lord
I’ve been lied on
But thank you Lord
I’ve been talked about
But thank you Lord
I’ve been misunderstood
But thank you Lord
You might be sick
Body racking with pain
But thank you Lord
The bills are due
Don’t know where the money coming from
But thank you Lord
Thank you Lord (2x)
I want, I want to thank God
Has been so good to me
He’s been good to me
More than this old world or you could ever be
He’s been so good (3x)
So good (4x)
To me
He dried all of my tears away
Turned my midnight into day
And I know this too shall pass because my God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory. That’s just how good God is!
Look Mom I’m Cross Blogging
Dec 15, 2007 Unplugged Authentcity
Ok so my mom doesn’t have a computer and she can’t see this post. But hey I am a little excited about this Cross Blog Conversation Opportunity.
So what is a cross blog conversation? Well it is two people having a conversation via their blogs.
I have been watching and reading cross blogs between many of the WAHMs I network with and follow on a daily basis. They have been quite good and very intimate. I enjoy reading them and have been wanting to take part for quite some time now.
Well tonight on Twitter, I expressed that I was the only one not cross blogging and Trica over at Dragon Fly Dreams invited me to start a cross blog conversation with her. So we are starting this out with the hope of getting to know one another and share a bit of ourselves with those who choose to read our blogs.
So Trica started the conversation with..
LaTara you are a wonderful and strong person. Can you tell me a little about who LaTara is and what you are all about?
Well Trica, I guess you can sum me like this… a simple woman who beats to the beat of her own drum and purposes her life to follow God’s will.
I am not into a lot of fluff and phoniness. I am as real as they get and I really wouldn’t have it any other way. With me what you see is what you get. Sometimes my transparency is a bit unnerving to folks. I consider myself to be one of those people who you either like or don’t like. There is no in between with me because I don’t like to compromise at the expense of losing myself. That’s how my momma and daddy raised me.
I am not into impressing folks because I only play to an audience of ONE! In the end it is Him that we will all bow down to.
I am the baby of 8 children raised my mid-western momma and my southern daddy who use to tell me to stop chewing girls because it was not lady like. I grew up in Los Angeles, CA where I lived with my momma and spent my weekends, holidays, and summers mostly with my daddy and step-family.
My children are Alexander, 15 and Mr. Brehane, 4. They make mom smile. I also have grown step children and grand babies as result.
My family and I are vegans and it is an interesting way to live but a beneficial one as well. I never thought I would be vegan, but I did want to become a vegetarian. So the transition has been a difficult but worthwhile one.
I am married to Rupert and have been for 5 up and down years. I praise God for him daily though because it was his love and prayers that got me through depression, self-hatred, and dealing with a past that had me trapped in a pit that I was thrown into as a little girl and never quite found my way out of. And we are totally opposite in many things other than our deep love for God and our desire to serve Him; our quest for natural health, love for nature (except camping - I hate it unless it is in a cabin with a bathroom), our love for watching Law and Order SVU, All CSIs, ER, and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, and a few other things that I dare not mention because they are personal.
Today I am a more authentic woman who is living her life doing things I would have never done before.
I love to laugh, I love writing, I love to hug, I love nature, I love going to the grocery store, I love reading and learning; I love to spend time with folks, I love cooking… I love where I am today in my life
I am a bit of a smart mouth and tackfulness fails me many times. I am working on having more tack…really I am. I just come from a background where I had to fight a lot for much and it made me a little mean in the mouth. This is something I pray on often because I know I should have more of the character of Christ. He wasn’t a sugar coater but He did speak with Tack and dignity.
I am of course a WAHM and make my living as a Vegan Lifestyle coach and natural health expert. I recently took up a little VA work and selling books on Amazon on the side to make everything flow like it should.
Ok I think I may have babbled on too much. So now Trica, I have a question for you…
What does the title of your blog say about you?
Read Trica’s blog for her answer.
