Choleric - let's do it my way!

The strength of the choleric is their ability to take charge, to make quick, correct judgements and to be goal oriented. They desire to have control and are full of ambition, energy and passion.

Weakness include the tendency to be bossy, insensitve, quick to anger, impatient and unwilling to delegate. They can be unwilling to give credit to others.

They have a natural feel for what we work and sincerely believe they can achieve. Their greatest fear is losing control of everything.

Choloerics get depressed life is out of control and when people won't do things their way. They react to stress by tightening control, working harder and yelling.

They are recognised by their fast moving approach to life, self-confidence and a restless attitude.

Parents of the choleric child need to ensure the chid has an area they can be in control of (e.g. one section of the yard, a portion of their toys) and will need to focus on self-control training.

Instructions need to be calm, firm (unmoving) and non emotional.

Sanguine - let's do it the fun way!

One of the many helpful talks from the recent Growing Families National Conference was called "What in the World Are They Thinking?: Understanding Temperaments".

Temperament refers to your God-given, inborn, emotional and behavioural pre-dispositions or inclinations.
It doesn't change.
Personality and character however can be altered by life experiences, environment etc.

Sanguines are extroverted, people oriented types, who love to have fun.

They are characterised by talking and a bubbling personality. They inspire and charm and recharge by having social time.

Sanguines can be disorganised, late and prone to exaggeration. They are worried about being unpopular or bored.

They are recognised by their loud volume and bright eyes.

To parent a sanguine child, provide lots of social interaction, time for talking and music for background when they are focusing and concentrating on a task.

Enjoy this God-given personality!

Chore Time for Mums - by Belinda Letchford

My kids do a lot of household chores – between the four of them


they keep the kitchen, bathroom, family room clean and tidy, they


do the family laundry and look after outside chores as well. They


are totally responsible for their own bedroom and ironing. They


each cook a few evening meals a month.






What is left for me to do you may ask!






My main responsibility is to train them in their responsibilities.


I may not be doing much of the actual chores, but I am training.


*Training in and of itself is a chore – it is my job every day. *






There is a downside to this though – your house may not look like


you wish it did, it won’t look like a magazine cover. As


homemakers ourselves, we have to come to a place of contentment


– that our home is a training ground, it isn’t a showcase.






When my kids were little I of course did these tasks, but I had my


children working alongside of me; learning, not only the skills,


the how-to, but also the heart for work, for serving and for being


a team. Doing household chores is a very good heart training


ground. If we aren’t careful though we forget the heart and just


get the house clean.






So the important things to teach are:


-A heart for work – a work ethic, and an ability to do the tasks


-A heart to serve others – we live in this house together - we do


each other’s laundry, we wash each other’s plates, we clean the


bathroom so it is nice for the next person.


-A heart for the family – we are a team and we work together, play


together, and pray together.






As I have said in the past, a key motivator for me is that I want


my children to have the skills necessary to look after their own


responsibilities as an adult: their time, possessions, money, and


self. I also want them to have the skills necessary to look after


other people – to be able to help people outside of themselves.






It is important that we know, deep in our heart – that we are


convinced, *why* we are teaching our children these chores. Once I


know my ‘why’ I can start to work on ‘what’ I’m going teach,


‘when’, and ‘how’. If we don’t know why then we will feel bad when


our children challenge our decisions.






Training really is a full time job. Remember training our kids


involves


-Showing them how it is done – being a model


-Teaching them – breaking each skill down, talking it through,


-Letting them practice – don’t walk away and leave them to it


after you’ve taught them, continue to be by their side, guiding


and adjusting their efforts


-Let them be responsible – once they are doing a good job


consistently, walk away and let it be their responsibility –


don’t hover but do make them accountable. Get them to report back,


you go and check it and either praise them for a job well done, or


get them to repeat it if it hasn’t been done right.






Sometimes it is just easier to get in and get it done yourself –


but you are short changing your kids if you do this. Training is


emotionally draining as well as time consuming. But you and your


children will reap the benefits. If you want to increase what your


children are doing around the house – spend this week observing


all that you do and ask yourself the question – which one of your


children could do this task? Or - Which one of your children needs


training in this task? Take notes and start to prepare for a time


of training and adjustment. They may or may not need training,


they may need reminding and encouragement, but bit by bit get your


children to do the things you know they are capable of doing, then


move onto training them to do a little bit more.






As a wife and mother we wear many hats – now you can add Trainer


to the list!



Read more on Belinda's website:
” http://www.lifestyle-homeschool.com/

What Every Child should know Along the Way
is a very helpful book as it gives a list of household

responsibility (aka chores) that the authors consider age

appropriate. You may tweak them (as I have a little) but it does

give you a guide and a starting place. It also has a great section

on Character training.

Belinda blogs during the week over at Live life with your Kids Blog

http://livelifewithyourkids.wordpress.com/

.

Maybe This Year

Maybe This Year



2012 at 7:49 pm
by Nicole Whitacre


Filed under Biblical Womanhood Spiritual Growth


Each year we make New Year's resolutions for things we want to change, but we also have New Year's hopes for things we can't change, but wish we could. We long to receive certain desires of our heart that seem elusively out of reach. And maybe, just maybe, we will see those hopes fulfilled this year.

When I was single, I hoped for a husband. Maybe this year, he will come. I imagined myself married by the following New Year, or at least engaged. Maybe the New Year was holding my future husband in the wings. God eventually gave me an amazing husband, but new hopes still sprang up with each New Year's Day. When we lived in a teeny apartment, I wanted to move to a bigger place. When I experienced secondary infertility, I wanted to have another child. Maybe this year.

I'm sure you have hopes for this year. They are probably whatever you are thinking about right now.

But in her book, Keep A Quiet Heart, Elisabeth Elliot encourages us to focus on the most important of New Year's hopes:

“Will the young woman find a mate? Will the couple have a child? Maybe this year will be the year of desire fulfilled. Perhaps, on the other hand, it will be the year of desire radically transformed, the year of finding, as we have perhaps not yet truly found, Christ to be the All-Sufficient One, Christ the ‘deep sweet well of Love’” (page 49, emphasis mine).

This year, let us ask God to dissolve all our hopes (however good they may be!) into a single hope: to know Christ and to be found in Him. May this be a year of desire radically transformed, a deeper, truer, knowing of Christ as our All-Sufficient One.

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7-8a).



Article taken from
girltalksblogs - conversations on biblical womanhood and other fun stuff.

Christmas

I love Christmas.

I love all the Christmas songs with words so rich with meaning.

I love the planning and organising.

I love the excitement and anticipation.

On the eve of Christmas we were strolling along the beach
with hundreds of people from around the globe, eating gelato.
Dress-up characters, Christmas lights, children blowing bubbles,
glow sticks, people eating in outdoor cafes, fireworks on the beach front.
All contributing to a buzz not experienced at any other time of the year. 

On Christmas Day we attended a formal church service
steeped in ritual and tradition.

So holy.

So joyful.

So peaceful.

Thankyou, Jesus.

Take Courage, Work, Fear Not - by John Piper

If that's you, this message from Haggai is tailor-made for your heart today. God confronts the discouragement of the people, first of all, with a heartening command in verse 4: "Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work." God clearly does not agree with their assessment of the situation. If they think their work on the temple is of so little significance that they can quit, they are very wrong, for God says, "Take courage, . . . work!"






He gives two arguments why they should take courage and work heartily. And both of these are crucial for us as well. The text continues in verses 4 and 5: "Work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit abides among you; fear not." God's first argument why they should "take courage," "work," and "fear not" is that he is with them. For most of us the value of a job increases with the dignity and prestige of the people who are willing to do it. How could we ever, then, belittle a work when God says he is with us in it? When God is working at your side, nothing is trivial.




But the promise is not only that he will be at your side; he will also be in your heart encouraging you. Look back at the end of 1:13. "I am with you, says the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord." If we will ask him and trust him, God not only works with us, but he moves in to stir up our spirit and give us a heart for the work. He doesn't want crusty diehards in his work; he wants free and joyful laborers. And so he promises to be with them and stir them up to love the work.

 In other words, take courage, work, and fear not, because you build more than you see. All you see is a paltry temple. But God promises to take your work, fill it with his glory, and make your labors with a million times more than you ever imagined.

 There is a principle here that applies to you and me: God takes small, imperfect things and builds them into a habitation for his glory. O, how we should take courage in our little spheres of influence! And is this not the message of Advent and Christmas? What more appropriate word could God have said to Mary as Jesus was growing up: Take courage, young mother, you build more than you see. And so it is with every one of us. Nothing you do is a trifle if you do it in the name of God. He will shake heaven and earth to fill your labor with splendor. Take courage, you build more than you see.

 © Desiring God


Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Beauty Tips by Audrey Hepburn

Beauty Tips by Audrey Hepburn

For attractive lips, Speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, Seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, Share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, Let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, Walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed;

Never throw out anybody.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.

As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself,

the other for helping others.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,

the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,

because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,

but true beauty in a Woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows.

And the beauty of a woman, with passing years only grows!