A happy little train puffs along on it’s way to the other side of the mountain to deliver toys and good food to the little boys and girls. Suddenly, a problem arises. The little train stops and can go no further.

All the toys are disappointed because the boys and girls will not get their toys and good food if they don’t make it over the mountain. Then, the little clown spots a shiny new engine coming their way. Unfortunately, the shiny new engine thinks he is too good to pull the little train over the mountain.

The clown continues to ask other passing engines to pull them over the mountain so that they can deliver the toys and good food. Finally, they find a very small blue engine that is willing to try.

In this classic tale, The Little Engine That Could, kids learn that just because you are small doesn’t mean you can’t do very important things. Much of the time, what we are able to accomplish is a matter of attitude and determination rather than our size.

Tiny Tidbits: In 2005, a full-sized replica of The Little Engine that Could was constructed. Now, many tourist and museum railroad operations throughout the United States host rail tours each year called the ‘I think I can’ Rail Tour. (Resource: Wikipedia)

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1. The Mommy Interviews by Kristy Stratton-Tolley Could God have made a mistake when He chose a mother for Lucy? She's not allowed to paint the dogs...
2. David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon Admittedly, we are a little partial to this story because my son's name is David. Still it is a treat...

Posted on April 27th, 2009 in Books | 2 Comments

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Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:3 (NIV)

To behold the majesty of the Grand Canyon or the vast expanse of the ocean, I wonder how anyone could deny the existence of our great Creator. His greatness is far beyond our comprehension.

Yet, the same God that created by hand the beauty that we see everyday in nature, loves us even more than all His other wondrous creations. God is so awesome that there is no way we could even begin to comprehend His greatness.

Therefore, He alone deserves our praise; His word says in Psalm 150:6, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” Although it is enough reason to praise God just because He is God, we should also praise Him for His faithfulness to us. He provides for us and blesses us everyday.

I believe that many times we don’t even recognize the hand of God at work in our lives because we are so busy living our lives. I am learning to thank God and praise Him for the blessing I am unaware of each day.

Even though, we shouldn’t praise God in order to receive blessings, when we do praise Him, it does open up the doors of heaven for Him to pour out more blessings on us.

Even when troubles arise in our lives and we don’t feel like we have anything to praise God for, remember to praise Him because He is the God of the universe, and because He is going to bring you through whatever trials you are facing. Praise Him because He is a faithful and loving God.

Prayer Time: Take time to praise God. Tell him how awesome He is and thank Him for loving you and providing for you and your family. Ask Him to help you remember to praise Him even in bad times because He is always worthy of our praise.

Related posts:

1. Sunday Devotion: A Shelter in the Time of Storm "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." Psalm 32:7...
2. Sunday Devotion: The Hidden Truth Having been raised in church I have heard this verse most of my life. However, I have to ask myself...
3. Sunday Devotion: Growing in Your Relationship with God "See Spot run." I bet we all remember the "Dick and Jane" books that were a part of our early...

Posted on April 26th, 2009 in Mom's Corner | No Comments

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Are you ready for that super fun great vacation with your family? I mean, are you really ready? Well, I’m really excited, but not about my vacation. I’m excited because next week I will be beginning a four part series on planning for your family vacation.

Vacations provide a great way to spend time with your family away from the distractions that constantly assail you at home (cleaning floors, dirty dishes, laundry - you get the picture) - just relaxation and fun, fun, fun. Yea!! However, if you’re not well prepared, your vacation may not go as smoothly as you would like.

Here’s the good news.

You can bypass a whole lot of bumps in the road by making sure that you have a good solid plan. What I have for you are some tips that are going to make your vacation planning easier this year, thus resulting in a more fun-filled, less stressful trip.

Let me introduce you to the four segments in this series.

• Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Deciding Where to Go
• Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Budgeting
• Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Don’t forget to take…
• Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Playing it Safe

Each of these segments includes tips and information that will help you make the most of your vacation. I can’t wait to get started. This is really making me want to go on vacation now!

This series will begin next Tuesday. You don’t want to miss it. I will also have some vacation planning worksheets available for you to download.

You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed by clicking on the RSS feed icon on the righthand side of this page, or simply enter your email address in the box under the RSS icon and press the subscribe button. This way you’ll be sure to catch all four parts of this series.

Related posts:

1. Tips for Family Vacation Planning, Part 3: Don’t forget to take… On Wednesday, we took a look at budgeting for a vacation in Tips for Vacation Planning, Part 2: Budgeting, so...
2. Tips for Family Vacation Planning, Part 4: Playing it Safe Are you finally packed and ready to go on that long awaited and much needed vacation? I hope that yesterday's...
3. Tips for Family Vacation Planning, Part 2: Budgeting Welcome back to my vacation planning series. Yesterday in Tips for Family Vacation Planning, Part 1: Deciding Where to Go,...