The Power of Prayer, Praise and Potty Training
My life has been radically blessed in the last 25 days. Not only have I achieved a 14 year goal in my career but my 4 year old son has finally become Potty Trained.
When you have a baby you expect the next 2 years of your life to be spent cleaning up dirty diapers and poopy messes, but I didn’t realize I would be spending an additional 2 years after that in poopy detail too. I will spare you all the grossness but you can imagine my son is a big healthy eater who is very regular but never went in the toilet. I am very, very grateful for Young Living’s Thieves Cleaner which I needed to use just about daily.
But all that changed about 2 weeks ago when all of a sudden my son was potty trained. On further analysis I realize that it wasn’t all of a sudden and that there were some key things that led to his change of heart. I also realize that some of these same principals can be applied to other difficult situations in our lives too.
So here is my list of Tips for Potty Training and Life:
1) Expectations – Joshua was my first child so I really didn’t know what to expect so I didn’t set any expectations until recently. I also was told “boys” take longer to potty train and I guess I set that in my mind as an expectation.
2) Create Urgency – Because both my husband and I work from home and have a decent income that we could “afford” spending money on diapers there was no urgency to get him out of them. Many moms who I talked to in different financial and work situations had their kids potty trained by 2 years old.
3) Consistency – I admit I wasn’t consistent myself in getting my son potty trained. I would “train” one day and then not the next. Or one week and then let it go the next. I am sure he was a bit confused too with that kind of schedule.
Also downstairs he had a small portable potty but then upstairs he had a little potty seat that goes over the big potty. I found both of these a hassle to clean and they were just gross. So literally the day after I got rid of them he started being fully potty trained.
4) PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE – After reading this quote by Michelle Duggar, mom of the famous 19 Kids and Counting in her discussion about changing and molding a child’s good behavior “praise 10 times more than you correct”.
So I started doing that in a lot of things with my son and wow it really works. When he did have an accident I would do the clean up, make him help clean up and take him out of “fun” for at least 10 minutes so he understood this wasn’t good behavior. I didn’t use words like BAD BOY but rather kept saying where do we go pee pee and poopy on the potty… when you do this it’s no FUN and lots of work for MOMMY which is no FUN…
A side note on this one… some parents told me they spanked their kids when they messed their pants and that seemed to correct the behavior. The reason I didn’t go down that path fully is because I once had a patient who was chronically constipated her whole life. After doing some serious Neuro Emotional work with another doc friend of mine we found a root of that issue was when she was pretty young she had pooped her pants and been severely spanked because of it. Her system always took “pooping” as bad and held it in most of her life, which led to some pretty bad outcomes.
5) Accountability – We started using a potty chart where Joshua would get a star on the chart every time he went pee pee on the potty. Then after he was pee pee trained we moved to poopy stars. It was a visual reminder of his success and progress
6) Reward – At first we did the M&M reward every time he went peepPee on the potty and I quickly had my son addicted to candy after 4 years of avoiding that. Then I moved to SunChips, a little healthier type of M&M and I ended up getting into them… (not good). Then we moved to stickers, and finally now we do a toy prize at the end of a week when we poopy on the potty everyday for a week.
7) Prayer – When my Mommy Helper came down from New York to live here in Florida and work for us, she got more than she bargained for when it came to clean up duty. At least 2 times a week she would get the brunt of poopy clean up mess. So being the prayerful woman she is she started bringing her request to God along with her prayer team. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Joshua was potty trained after that either. Prayer is one of the most powerful tools we have.
So how can you apply these principals to your own life or maybe your own behavior changes?
1) Expect MORE- Don’t use excuses about age, environment, finances, or the fact that most people do _______. Make your own destiny and throw away excuses.
2) Create Urgency – If you are comfortable in your life or situation there is no urgency to achieve a goal. Cut up the credit card, get real about your weight or health condition and do whatever you need to do to create urgency. The most successful entrepreneurs and home business owners were usually desperate to succeed.
3) Consistency is the KEY… – I have an amazing distributor on my team named Kim. She is successful at whatever she puts her mind too and Young Living has been a part of her life since 2006. Her commissions could easily be 10 times what they are now but her pattern of working in her YL business is inconsistent.
She will share it consistently for a little while and then move on to the next best thing then 6 months or a year later come back to it. She loves the product and continues to use them all these years but because she never stays focused on the business for more than a couple months, she loses opportunities and income. Consistency is the key to success.
4) PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE – It works in all areas of life. It’s like watering a new plant. You must praise your progress daily. Even little “sprouts” we call them… they need to be watered everyday.
5) Accountability – Dave Ramsey suggests having an accountability partner in his Financial Peace University and I would suggest it in any long term goal. Someone or a group of ‘someones’ who help lift you up and also tell you like it is. I would also suggest tracking your work and progress will help you stay accountable too.
6) REWARD – All the hard work won’t be worth it if we don’t get the REWARDS too. Set reward system for yourself so you have things to look forward to weekly even. Maybe if you work your home business in the evenings every night you get to watch all your favorite recorded shows on Saturday night. Or if you achieve a new rank in your home business you get to purchase your favorite essential oil with your REWARDS points.
7) PRAYER – The most powerful tool you have. Combined with the 6 positive actions above, it can change your life.
So I hope my son’s Potty Training Success can help you in achieving your hard goals too. Remember, it’s a process. It takes time and it may not turn out exactly as your thought because God’s plan might be different from your plan.
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. It’s strictly for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes ONLY. The products I talk about are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. Any information I give you about them is for informational or entertainment purposes only. They have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Please seek the qualified health professional of your choice when making health decisions for yourself, your family and your pets.
Moms of Faith: Penny LeClair
From going homeless to being able to have her own home…this is a journey of a mom of faith who believed and walked through the fire. She is now debt free and is able to provide for her two children and live with a ‘kingdom mindset’.
Change can be difficult but a change that includes uncertainty and the possibility of being homeless with two children is unimaginable. Why did she leave? For her children and her safety and sanity.
Penny LeClair left a very destructive marriage with her two children feeling depressed, full of fear, angry, broke and…was homeless. She went from living in a three-bedroom two-bath home, with two cars, hot tub, and camper kind of life to living in a 9X10 room in her parents’ house.
With only clothes and a set of bunk beds for her children Penny had no money and worked only 12 hours part-time to support her children and herself.
What does it take to switch things around?
According to National Alliance, to End Homelessness:
Domestic violence is the immediate cause of homelessness for many women. Survivors of domestic violence are often isolated from support networks and financial resources by their abusers, which puts them at risk of becoming homeless. As a result, they may lack steady income, employment history, credit history, and landlord references. They also often suffer from anxiety, panic disorder, major depression, and substance abuse.
What makes Penny different from the statistics?
Before Penny left her home, the spirit of fear was lying and tormenting her. She felt unworthy, useless and that she would never amount to anything. Fear was taking a hold of her life.
Until one day being led by the Holy Spirit…
She started reading, confessing and meditating on scriptures that the Holy Spirit had prompted her to print out. Penny used the Word of God to fight the spirit of fear. She started confessing who she is in Christ. The Word of God caused her to believe and had the courage to leave her home and venture into the new.
I asked Penny to describe what a faith-filled life looks like and to describe fear.
She said:
A faith filled life is… knowing and believing what God’s word says is true with confidence and then acting on it.
Fear is something I have dealt with most of my life.
Fear is the root to every problem a person can have.
Fear is a spirit that brings torment and the only antidote is to allow God to perfect us in his love through the truth of His Word.
When we know that God loves us with every fiber of our being fear cannot step foot in our lives. (1 John 4:18)
Is it always perfect?
NO, but I finally have recognized when the torment of stress, anxiety, depression, sickness and lack are at my door, I have allowed the spirit of fear to come in through my thoughts and I have forgotten how much God loves me.
Does she still struggle with the lack of faith?
I do not believe I lack faith. What I believe happens is that I have not strengthened myself in an area with full confidence in God’s Word. This leaves me to have unbelief and faith mixed, making me a double-minded person and the Bible says such a person is unstable in all their ways.
The antidote for a double-minded person is to strengthen their faith daily in the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing of the Word of God, and building confidence in the Word of God instead of Satan’s lies. Penny told a story of the father of the boy who was demon possessed in Mark 9 who said I believe, but Lord help me with my unbelief.
Do you struggle with unbelief?
Penny spent two years trying to find a place for her children and herself. It seemed hopeless. She was told she needed to get help from welfare. During that period of her life she was spending time renewing her mind – declaring “who she is in Christ and about her finances”.
The Word of God changed her mind and life. Going on welfare was not the answer to her problems and she refused to give in or give up. Instead she chose to believe in the Word of God and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit.
One day while praying, during her homeless situation Penny was led by the Holy Spirit to place an ad in the newspaper looking for a house to rent. The Lord specifically had her wrote everything down – what she wanted and needed in the house. Including the furnishing, kitchen appliances and the amount needed to pay for everything in a month.
At that time she had nothing but $1,000. Would that be enough to pay for the deposit and her list of things? God in his unique ways prompted Penny to give half of the only money she had to a mission trip at her local church.
She faced a huge battle. What if she didn’t have enough money to pay her rent and purchase everything in the list? Until God spoke, “Really, Penny? Are you going to get a house and everything you need with that $1,000?”
Penny realized $1,000 was not going to pay for all her needs and she had to believe in God’s provision. She finally gave in and gave half of the money away.
She said:
We need to ask God for his grace to help us with unbelief, we are not perfect beings, but Jesus is and has completed it all for us.
One week after the placement of the ad, she received a call from her current landlord. He said, “I wasn’t going to rent this house, but I saw your ad!” (God’s favor!) Long story short, they made arrangements for her to see the place, she gave him the deposit and the place was hers.
A month later she received more favors when the landlord remodeled the bathroom, put in all new windows and carpets. She moved into a home on a little over an acre of land surrounded by woods, pine trees and enough room for her children to run and play, exactly what she had written down.
The good news is when she took a step of faith, God opened doors and more doors where opened when she obeyed and relied on his strength and provision.
Imagine this: the day after she paid the deposit, Penny received a promotion at work!
She had more favor!
Now her job gave her the provision to pay her monthly bills with some leftover. She was given everything she needed. Her new home is even better than the old. After five months of sleeping on a fold out couch in her living room, a friend she had not seen for 20 years heard about her situation and gave her a pillow top bed.
Penny recalled:
When I needed something I would go out to the garage or attic and I would find what I needed. God knew everything I would need before I did. Did I do it in perfection, no, but Jesus did. I just kept my eyes, and heart on what His Word said and it happened.
God continues to bless Penny and her two children. After three years of living in her rented home she listed the following blessings:
● I have seen God supply my needs over and over
● We have never gone without, even when it looked like we would.
● He never let us down.
● I am now debt free by using God’s principles on debt cancellation
● And have been given the opportunity by my landlord to purchase my home with him holding the mortgage.
Praise God for his favor, grace and provision. At the midst of chaos and confusion Penny found Young Living Essential Oils. Today her business with Young Living provides another source of income for her and her family.
I asked Penny to give us tips on how to live a life of faith instead of fear. Here are 8 tips:
1. When fear tries to rear its ugly head, boldly cast it out until you have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
2. Use the Word of God meditating and confessing the truth submitting yourself to God first, resisting the devil, so that HE HAS TO FLEE! In other words, come into agreement with God’s Word over Satan’s lies and when that happens, powerful things happen.
3. Renew your mind to God’s word in the areas you are lacking, meditate on those scriptures until they become a revelation to you.
4. Learn the principles of reaping and sowing, tithing and giving
5. Get into a good Bible faith teaching church
6. Find one person who believes as you do and pray in agreement for what you are needing
7. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and build your confidence in God’s Word DAILY knowing it will not return void.
8. He is truly the source of everything we need!
Penny has gone from homeless to a homeowner. She is passionate about equipping, encouraging and helping others transform in spirit, soul and body. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1) Are you struggling with fear? Connect with Penny today and be blessed by her article on Powerful FREQUENCY Combination for Healing.
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. It’s strictly for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes ONLY. The products I talk about are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. Any information I give you about them is for informational or entertainment purposes only. They have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Please seek the qualified health professional of your choice when making health decisions for yourself, your family and your pets.
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Moms of Faith: Lisa Buske
This year marks the 20th year Heidi M. Allen disappeared while working alone at D&W Convenience Store in New Haven NY. Her last transaction before the kidnapping was at 7:42 a.m. She was 18, set to graduate from high school with honors in May 1994 and had job interviews all lined up.
Heidi has not been found. Where is Heidi? That’s the question that tormented Lisa Buske for years until she found ways to live by Faith and rely on the One True God who loves and gives hope.
How does one cope with a missing family member – losing a sister, child, spouse, mom, dad or best friend? Does one embrace a life of fear, hate, blame or faith, love and hope while coping with the unanswered question?
When Heidi was kidnapped on April 3, 1994, Lisa turned her back on God completely with no plans to trust God again. She started blaming and went on to believe in psychics and the lies of the enemy. She buried her feelings so deep that it began to show up in many areas of her life.
She was wallowing in the dark relying on no one for 10 years until one day a student said, “Mrs. Buske, you need Jesus. Will you come to church on Sunday?”
Lisa told me, “I needed to hear with such compassion and boldness…the healing began. God started to tear down the barrier preventing anyone (especially God) in. Since realizing God didn’t take my sister and the number of ways He worked to help the investigation in those first few moments, my trust, hope and faith have increased.”
Lisa is a woman, mom and wife of faith. She chooses to run to God when the going gets tough. Instead of seeing the negative and evil she lets God work through her to make a difference in the life of others and to share positive, beautiful and encouraging random acts of kindness to those who are in need.
I asked Lisa how does a faith filled life look like and this is what she said:
A faith-filled life is one that reflects the higher power a person believes in. I personally believe in God as the One, True God, so to live a faith-filled life, I must think, speak, write, and live a life God will find pleasing.
A favorite verse that illustrates this is from 1 Corinthians: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not selfish, and it cannot be made angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth. Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits. Love will never end…So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, 13
After all, a faith filled life is one full of love for God, others and finally yourself. Depending on your gifts, how this is expressed will vary. I tend to share my faith a lot through the written word: personal notes, cards, messages, and even a text to let someone know I’m thinking of them or share a Bible verse God placed on my heart for them. A faith-filled life doesn’t hide one’s faith but incorporates it into all aspects on our day.
Lisa still misses her sister every day and prays this is the day she is found. Instead of running to darkness, she opens the blinds and her Bible each day and seeks The Light and Son.
Living a life of faith doesn’t mean fear does not exist. Fear and negative voices are always ready to derail us and send us back to “fear-full world.” No matter what situation we are in, fear is always present. Fear robs clarity and focus. Fear will slow us down and worst yet- stops us from doing what we are called to do.
To Lisa, fear is usually disguised as doubt or contemplation when faced with decisions and or situations that require 100% full trust in God. Fear is not of God, it is an attack by the enemy and we waste time focused on the fear itself instead of the One with the power to free us from its snare.
Her greatest fear pertains to her daughter. Since her only sister was kidnapped at the age of 18 and remains missing today- this traffic loss affects and intensifies the fear of letting her daughter grow up.
An example given by Lisa:
Our daughter went to her first amusement park in seventh grade. Rather than facing my fear, I always had an excuse of why we couldn’t go or why she couldn’t go with a friend’s family. Finally, with us as chaperones, she went to SeaBreeze with the band and chorus.
I spent two weeks sick to my stomach because of what might happen to her while at the park. Each time the fear attacked, I went to my Bible and found a new verse to counter. I wrote each one down on an index card and bound them together for the trip.
While at the park, I paced and walked the park to check on the students we were chaperoning but specifically making sure our daughter was with her group.
It came time for lunch and her group returned without her.
I asked, “Where’s Mary?” None of them knew, they went on a ride she didn’t want to so she waited at the end of the line but wasn’t there when they got off. They didn’t look for her, apologize for breaking their group up, or appear nervous.
I sprinted from the picnic area to search the park while swallowing vomit the entire time.
The Scripture verses I had written for two weeks came flooding into my head as I prayed “Lord keep her safe” and then a verse until… I saw her. I ran up to her, hugged her, and asked if she was okay.
She looked at me like I had three heads with a, “I don’t know where my group went. They were on that ride. While I waited I went on that ride (pointed across the walkway) but when I got off they didn’t wait. Whoever got off first was supposed to wait for the other. I didn’t come back by myself because you would flip out.”
She was right. We talked on our way back to the pavilion. Long story short, she wasn’t nervous at all, just hurt and annoyed her friends didn’t care enough to look for her. No one in our group knew where she was BUT God did and He surrounded her with His angels and calmness.
Hundreds of teens walk the amusement parks daily without adult supervision and return home safely, yet the fear connected to my life’s tragedy prevents my daughter from this luxury. We’ve been to a few amusement parks and even traveled out of state on field trips since then and each one gets a little easier to endure. I still spend time reading my Bible, writing verses that touch my heart, and in prayer before we travel but the peace that passes understanding is always evident.
Now one of Lisa Buske’s values in life is, “Not to take a day for granted!”
When asked if she is worried about her daughter’s future, she shared the following:
● I pray for the young man God has for her husband to be a God-fearing, loving, respectful, hardworking, and caring man and father to their children.
● As the preparations for college start, I pray she isn’t struggling with student loan debt like I am today so I try to share mistakes I made to prevent her from financial struggles later in life.
● I pray she chooses the profession God has called her to and that she will enjoy it so it’s not work.
I don’t worry about her future but I do pray for it daily. If I focus on her leaving too much, anxiety creeps in and I find myself searching for a verse to remind that God is Omnipresent and will be with her wherever she goes. I must trust and rest in this truth. With God in her life and heart, combined with the parenting she’s received, the foundation for success is in place.
Another of Lisa’s values is “I try to take each day as it comes because tomorrow has enough worry of its own, the Bible reminds of this a few times. “
These days Lisa is a busy paraprofessional at her local school district where she encourages, inspires and educates kiddos during their foundational years. While offering academic support, she prays for opportunities to share Jesus with them through her actions and words.
She is an author and has written several books, namely Where’s Heidi? One Sister’s Journey, When the Waves Subside: There is Hope, Encourage Others: One Day at a Time and her newest release No More Pain: I Can Fly. Her books are inspirational, encouraging and empowering and offer the message of hope, love and faith. She also blogs regularly at http://www.lisambuske.com/ so others will hopefully see it’s possible to survive, thrive, and be alive after tragedy.
I asked Lisa for suggestions and advice for women who are struggling with fear and lack of faith. Here are Lisa Buske’s eight steps to fight fear:
One: First and foremost, you need to admit you have fear. When we ignore or attempt to hide our fears, this is when the devil gains a foothold into our heart. The only way to eliminate his control over your life is to admit and face your fear.
As you face your fear, remember you aren’t alone nor were you designed to live life in this way. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV
Two: My advice to help you flip the focus on your faith instead of your fears is to write a list of your fears. Start at the top of a clean piece of paper, listing each fear on its own line, leaving three to four lines before listing the next.
Three: Once your list is complete, grab your Bible, and open to the concordance or dictionary. Look up the words you’ve written down. On the lines you’ve left empty, write down the verses that relate to the fear you’ve listed. Don’t look up the verses yet, right now you are only compiling a list of verses that might relate and help you keep your eyes focused on God and not the issue.
Four: The next step is to count how many different verses that can possibly help you face and overcome your fears.
Five: This will empower you, because God provides far more solutions than you can list problems.
Six: Now the fun begins. Once a day, pick no more than three fears and start looking up verses about each.
Seven: In a one subject notebook, hand write (no typing) the Bible verse and its location. If you want to step it up a little, develop a paraphrase for this same verse and hear how God speaks to you when it’s His Word spoken in your voice.
Eight: During this process, your fears are replaced with Truth, Hope, Power, and Love as your faith is strengthened, renewed, and enhanced. Don’t give up, the old is gone and the new is here! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Her book, When the Waves Subside: There is Hope was written to illustrate the strength and beauty she saw in her parents after suffering their greatest loss, the abduction and presumed death of their youngest daughter. Lisa had heard from parents who’ve lost a child to disease, suicide and accidents that this book brought healing and encouragement.
No More Pain: I Can Fly is also written to encourage the grieving parent or friend after the loss of a loved one before it was their time, usually the young.
Lisa wrote on her website, though she may not have her sister in her life, she has a loving and faithful God who strengthens and helps her through each day with joy and hope. Please visit her website at www.lisambuske.com.
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. It’s strictly for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes ONLY. The products I talk about are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. Any information I give you about them is for informational or entertainment purposes only. They have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Please seek the qualified health professional of your choice when making health decisions for yourself, your family and your pets.
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