Thomas Nelson Publishers - Checklist for Life for Moms: Timeless Wisdom & Foolproof Strategies for Making the Most of Lifes Challenges and Opportunities

Checklist for Life
for Moms

Presented To:

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Presented By:

________________________

Date:

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Checklist for Life
for Moms

Checklist for Life
for Moms

Copyright 2005 by GRQ, Inc.
Brentwood, Tennessee 37067

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture quotations noted NKJV are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Scripture quotations noted GODS WORD are from GODS WORD, a copyrighted work of Gods Word to the Nations Bible Society. Copyright 1995 by Gods Word to the Nations Bible Society. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Scripture quotations noted KJV are from the KING JAMES VERSION. Scripture quotations noted THE MESSAGE are from The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations noted NASB are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE;, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. Scripture quotations noted NCV are from the New Century Version. Copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations noted NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations noted NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations noted NRSV are from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible. Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of The Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Managing Editor: Lila Empson

Manuscript written and prepared by Sarah M. Hupp, with contributions from Mary Tucker

Design: Whisner Design Group, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Checklist for life for moms : timeless wisdom & foolproof strategies for making the most of life's challenges and opportunities.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-7852-6004-8 (pbk.)
1. Mothers--Religious life. 2. Motherhood--Religious aspects--Christianity. I. Thomas Nelson Publishers.
BV4529.18.C44 2005
248.8'431--dc22

2004028645

Printed in the United States of America
05 06 07 08 CJK 5 4 3 2 1

Heart Attitude

I will delight in the life
God has given me.

Table of Contents

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them... he who leads, with diligence.

ROMANS 12:6, 8 NKJV

Do you ever wish you could have a Little House on the Prairie moment? You know the one: Two rocking chairs are pulled up to a fireplace as flames crackle and dance. A grandmother, bent with age, face carved with lines and wrinkles, occupies one chair. In the other rocker you sit expectantly, awaiting words of wisdom. Your child gurgles and coos contentedly in your lap. The hours pass, and you two mothersone old, one newshare, laugh, and learn all there is to know about mothering. Aah...

Unfortunately those tranquil moments exist only on TV.

Todays moms live in a reality show of busy days and overscheduled calendars. Probably the only chair you get to occupy for hours on end is the drivers seat of the family car, taking kids to lessons, going to work, running countless other errands. You find yourself pulled in different directions, facing situations for which you feel totally unprepared. Your spiritual life is hit-or-miss, often lost in the never-ending tasks of mothering. Youre drowning in responsibilities and would count yourself lucky if you could only tread water.

Take heart, Mom. Whatever your situation, Checklist for Life for Moms meets you in the middle of the problems you encounter every day. This unique handbook is built around topics of concern for all moms, bringing a Christian perspective to the ups and downs of mothering. Filled with life-changing principles shared in brief overviews, memorable quotations that will touch your heart, encouraging words from Scripture, and lists that will stretch your mind and spirit, this easily accessible guide will powerfully change your heart and life as you mother your children. Youll also learn creative, practical ways to implement the lessons youve learned, how to share them with your children, and how to help your kids reflect God in their lives, too.

Whether you have an unexpected half-hour or a spare moment while waiting for the next carpool, let Checklist for Life for Moms transport you to that longed-for pioneer fireside and find Gods wisdom, blessing, and hope with every turn of the page.

Children were more to Jesus than helpless, gentle creatures to be loved and protected; they were His chief parable of the kingdom of heaven.

JOHN WATSON

As you walk through the valley of the unknown, you will find the footprints of Jesus both in front of you and beside you.

CHARLES STANLEY

God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.

PHILIPPIANS 1:6 NCV

God always gives his very best to those who leave the choice with him.

JAMES HUDSON TAYLOR

Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days!

PSALM 90:14 NKJV

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.

HODDING CARTER

When they see their many children and material blessings, they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Israel. They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

ISAIAH 29:23 NLT

When Jesus put the little child in the midst of His disciples, He did not tell the little child to become like His disciples, He told the disciples to become like the little child.

Ruth Bell Graham

The people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones with the concern. Max Lucado

Checklist for Life for Moms

There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, simple, and useful life.

Booker T. Washington

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

PHILIPPIANS 2:5 KJV

Children are fascinated with magnets. Science teaches that when two like ends of magnets are put together, the magnets push each other apart. Conversely, when a positive pole of a magnet is put up against a negative pole of another magnet, the two magnets will stick tightly together.

The powerful, unseen force of your attitude parallels the lessons of a magnet. Like the magnet, if your mind-set or attitude is negatively focused on the negative things about other family members, youll find your family pushed apart by the polarity of criticism. If your children hear or see only negative words or actions from you about your husband, mother-in-law, or someone at church, your children will push those same people away with their own negative feelings. And if your negative attitude splashes over onto your own children by over-criticizing