Wordless Wednesday - National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

National Chocolate Ice Cream Day is celebrated June 7th

Photo Credit: Business Insider

Photo Credit: Pralines Ice Cream



Photo Credit: theCHIVE

Muffins with Mom – The new normal- 5 Tips to ease the transition

The morning of his high school graduation, I snapped a picture of my sleeping son. It was the beginning and end of a journey. The day flew by with preparations for the soon to be graduate. A yard sign was staked in a corner of our front lawn – 2017 graduate lives here. A banner was draped above our garage, announcing congratulations to the graduate.

Inside the house, my son secured the graduation cap on top of his hairstyle of braided dreadlocks. The blue and white tassel dangled from the side of cap. Four years of high school athletic events, parent-teacher conferences and homework hurdles. And that’s just the parenting side.

Changes occur in our lives, causing us to readjust…to a new normal. The things that were once routine have changed, the people in our lives may have changed, job loss may have occurred or your children move away. My son graduated from high school and will attend college away from home. Both of us will experience a new normal.

My new normal will be that of an empty nester. My son’s new normal will involve adjusting to life away from home. When you move into a new state of normal, embrace it, consider it a change in seasons. Below are five tips to help ease your transition into a new normal.

1.      Start a new hobby

2.      Surround yourself with friends and family

3.      Volunteer

4.      Schedule a date with yourself every month-go out for an ice cream sundae; take an art class; change your hairstyle

5.      Do something that you’ve always wanted to do, but never made time for it

Have you experienced a New Normal? When it happens will you be prepared? Life happens, embrace it.



 

Feel Good Friday – Miracles

How do you know when you have experienced a miracle? My nephew discovered the answer to this question one wintry day. It was mid-day as he drove along the I-94 highway, snow was blowing and drifting. It was typical Michigan weather, cars drove at the posted speed, some more cautious than others.

Before he reached his destination, a truck slid into his car and pushed him into another vehicle. My nephew attempted to control his car, but swerved once, twice, then end up on the median facing the opposite direction of traffic. He emerged from the car shaken and with a few bruises, but he was able to walk away to retell his story. A miracle.

A miracle is defined by Merriam-Webster as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. There are Biblical definitions of a miracle as well, but let’s focus on this one for now. The term divine intervention stands out to me. There are situations we experience in life where we look back and say, I don’t know how I made it through that. Divine intervention. A miracle.

Miracles, divine intervention, faith all fit together like pieces of a puzzle. You discover that ah-ha moment when something happens to you or someone close to you. I was reminded of this when I received a group text message that said, please pray for Sis J, she was in a car accident with an 18 wheeler. I was sitting at my desk working as I read the message. I let out a gasp… that’s my friend.

As my friend drove home from work along the dark highway, the last thing she remembered before her accident, was driving side by side next to a semi-truck. In an instant, she heard a boom. She pressed her foot on the brake, but nothing happened. Her car was somehow hooked onto the rear of the truck. Her car skidded back and forth across the highway.

The window on the driver’s side shattered in small pieces like grains of sand. The car came to a stop on the shoulder of the road, only after the semi-truck stopped. The car began to smoke, my friend was strapped in her seat belt. Adrenaline pumping, my friend’s first instinct was to escape from the vehicle. She had to crawl to the passenger side.

My friend was taken to the hospital and treated for cuts and bruises. One thing that did not need to be treated was her faith. A miracle? Divine intervention? Grace.

Have you ever experienced a situation that you felt involved divine intervention?