Tag Archives: caregivers

Builders

All the Ways to Shine Bright In 28 days

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“Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand – shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:15-16 MSG

Shine in this text denotes the transliteration of the Greek word, lampó. It is a primary verb, meaning “to beam, i.e., Radiate brilliancy (literally or figuratively) — give light, shine.”

And, if God says we are to do it, that means we can do it! Right?

We have absolutely no excuses.

It only takes 28 days!!! Can you believe it?

You better, because it’s the truth. Believing is your first step, and it is the start of a brighter life.

So, how does it work?

One word: Consistency. Within 21 consecutive days, any habit can be created, but with an additional 7 days, that habit becomes a long-term memory pattern. That’s the clincher and the most magnificent part of the process. By day 28, that old habit, of being dull (uninteresting, lacking luster, stupid, sluggish, listless) will be an attribute of your past.

Let’s Take the Challenge to SHINE BRIGHTER, Together, in 4 Simple Steps:

  1. Choose a different word that means to shine from the Wordlist each day for the next 28 days. I’ll add definitions as I go through the 28-day process.
  2. Meditate on that word with the five senses (see it, touch it, feel it, taste it, and smell what the Lord is cooking up in you)!!! It should take you about 5 – 7 minutes to do this.
  3. Throughout the day, find ways to use this word in your verbal or written communication. Maybe you will use the word in your journaling or in an affirmation or how about a compliment to someone else. *** If you need to remain accountable, as I do, come back to this post and share the action you took for the day.
  4. Repeat the above steps for the next 28 days.

The results!

Brilliance. Radiance, and the like. You will have developed the new habit and long-term memory of shining all the time, well beyond the 28 days it took to change your dull ways. Shining will have seeped from your mind and become a part of your heart.

The effects!

You and l will want to do better, be better and help others just as Matthew 5:15-15 tells us.

Isn’t this exciting?

Time really does work for us when we set our minds to stay the course. It changes our hearts and helps us to become all God created us to be. I pray you will accept this offer and never be dull again!

If this blog has inspired you, please take the time to post a comment.  Thank you. Until the next time, SHINE BRIGHTLY and give God the glory,

Reallyleah.com

 

 

 

Authors, Builders

@ least 10 things you might need to know as a friend

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If you are a special needs parent, you probably have many needs, right? Well, Gillian Marchenko has shared ten of hers, and I thought they were worth re-sharing here.  As an advocate for caregivers, there are some real nuggets for folks who love parents of special needs people. I hope that is you! Be blessed and be a blessing,

L Taylor

10 Special Needs of Special Needs Parents:

  1. We need you to bring it up. Ask us our stories. Most parents of children with special needs would prefer that others ask them about their child directly, rather than avoiding the topic.
  2. We need our kids to have friends. We want you to invite our kids over for playdates. Simply call and ask, “How can we make this work?”
  3. We need you to share your concerns. If you are concerned about something regarding our child, tell us about it. We may not have an answer, but we appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation about it.
  4. We need you to make an effort. Effort goes a long way. Educate yourself about our child’s special needs.
  5. We need you to prepare your kids to hang out with our kids. Talk with your kids about it beforehand. Talk about behaviors and ways your child can play with our children.
  6. We need you to be considerate. Consider the age of the child with special needs. If it is a new baby or a younger kid, we may not be ready to talk about it.
  7. We need your tangible help. Offer to bring over a meal, or watch our child with special needs so we can take our other child to a matinee.
  8. We need you to treat us like other friends, too. Talk about other things with us besides our child with special needs.
  9. We need validation. Don’t dismiss our concerns. When we open up about a struggle, I want validation, not to be blown off.
  10. We need invitations. Don’t assume we’re too busy. Ask us out to eat or to a movie. We may not be able to get away as easily as others, but we’ll go if we can. Even if we can’t, your invitation will make our day.

 

During my own research, I have discovered these 10 things to be true. After interviewing a mother of a special needs daughter, she immediately shared concerns about people in her life not knowing her story, the lack of social engagements for her child, and the increasing need for tangible help.  It pained me to see her pain.  Then I ran across this list, and it was a confirmation that this message needs to get out.

So my special thanks to Gillian Marchenko for summing up some of their needs. May we all learn something from this article. Photo by Mert Talay on Unsplash