Have You Seen Fireproof?

This is THE BEST MOVIE I've ever seen! It has changed my marriage and how I view my husband. I will be purchasing the Love Dare book from FireproofMyMarriage.com! I really encourage everyone to see this movie, especially couples. Whether your marriage is on the rocks or in great condition, it will be great for the both of you.

Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

Watch the video:



Be careful little eyes what you see,
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the string.

Baby's smile 'like an addictive drug'

My lovebug --->

A BABY'S smile gives a new mother a high like a drug hit and is equally addictive, a study of the female brain shows.

Neural scans on women help explain the extremely strong bond between mother and baby by showing how images of the infant affect the brain.

A study involving 28 first-time mothers shows that when a woman looks at a photo of her baby smiling the reward centres of her brain light up.

These regions, called the substantia nigra, the striatum and the frontal lobe, are involved in emotion processing, cognition and behavioural outputs.

Lead researcher Lane Strathearn, a Queenslander now based in the US, said these areas had also been activated in experiments associated with drug addiction.

"It may be that seeing your own baby's face is like a natural high," said Dr Strathearn, who is based at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.

The study, published in the journal Paediatrics, showed this maternal activation was strongest with smiling faces.

Photos of babies crying did not evoke the same brain response.

In fact, there was little difference in mothers' brains when they saw their own babies' crying face compared to that of an unknown child, Dr Strathearn said.

The findings could help scientists explain the inner workings of that critical mother-infant bond.

"Understanding how a mother responds uniquely to her own infant, when smiling or crying, may be the first step in understanding the neural basis of mother-infant attachment," he said.

It could also help shed light on how the bond fails to form in some cases.

"The relationship between mothers and infants is critical for child development," Dr Strathearn said.

"For whatever reason, in some cases, that relationship doesn't develop normally and neglect and abuse can result, with devastating effects on a child's development."

By Tamara McLean
July 08, 2008 01:29pm

The Woman You've Always Wanted to Be

Being a woman in our current society is tough. TV shows, magazines, movies, and other media outlets attempt to convince women to measure themselves according to society's standards. However, doing so limits the beauty of a woman. According to the world, you have to be a certain size, height, skin tone and have a certain type of hairstyle or clothing style to be considered beautiful. What does a woman do to uphold her self-image in a world where advertisements are flooded with influences that promote worldly beauty? That's where she draws the line by refusing to conform to society's image of beauty and renews her mind with the Word of God.

Due to impossible worldly standards, countless women have developed a poor self–image. Fear of not measuring up has caused them to develop harmful habits to prove their beauty and self—worth. For example, some women may spend all their money trying to keep up with the latest styles in beauty, fashion, and nearly starving themselves just to be thin. However, this type of behavior almost always leads to self destruction.

Women who have problems with their self–image are often bitter, angry and attitudinal. When a woman doesn't know how to treat herself, she will most likely mistreat others. The Bible tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves. However, if you've never learned to love yourself, you can't possibly love anyone else.

Proverbs 31 is an excellent guide for all women, because this woman doesn't suffer from a poor self—image. Interestingly, the proverb doesn't describe this woman's physical appearance, yet by her works we see her beauty radiated from within. I'm not saying run yourself into the ground trying to do everything this woman did! However, take note of how she lived her life and became a woman who was celebrated above all women. She was a woman of elegance and extraordinary intelligence because she honored God.

Proverbs 31:10 says the price of a virtuous woman is far above rubies. She is rare, precious, and esteemed above treasured jewels. As a woman, you have to understand your worth according to God's Word. You can be the woman you've always wanted to be when you begin to see yourself as God sees you.

Make a quality decision to define your standard of beauty by the Word of God. When your self–confidence comes as a result of a personal relationship with God, you'll realize that you're loved, precious, and beautiful in His sight!

Scriptures References: Proverbs 31, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 13

- Dr. Creflo A. Dollar

Mom Sign

Here is a little sign mom might want to print out and hang up on the bathroom door.

Attention Children: The Bathroom Door is Closed.

Please do not stand here and talk, whine, or ask questions. Wait until I get out.

Yes, it is locked. I want it that way. It is not broken, I am not trapped. I know I have left it unlocked, and even open at times, since you were born, because I was afraid some horrible tragedy might occur while I was in here, but it's been 10 years and I want some PRIVACY.

Do not ask me how long I will be. I will come out when I am done.

Do not bring the phone to the bathroom door.

Do not go running back to the phone yelling, "She's in the BATHROOM!"

Do not begin to fight as soon as I go in.

Do not stick your little fingers under the door and wiggle them. This was funny when you were two, but not now.

Do not slide pennies, Legos, or notes under the door. Even when you were two this got a little tiresome.

If you have followed me down the hall talking, and are still talking as you face this closed door, please turn around, walk away, and wait for me in another room. I will be glad to listen to you when I am done.

And yes, I still love you.

(signed)
Mom

The real price of a stay-at-home mom

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- If a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she'd rake in a nifty sum of nearly $117,000 a year.

That's according to a pre-Mother's Day study released Thursday by Salary.com, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based firm that studies workplace compensation.

The eighth annual survey calculated a mom's market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs, ranging from housekeeper and day care center teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer.

This year, the annual salary for a stay-at-home mom would be $116,805, while a working mom who also juggles an outside job would get $68,405 for her motherly duties.

One stay-at-home mom said the six-figure salary sounds a little low.

"I think a lot of people think we sit and home and have a lot of fun and don't do a lot of work," said Samantha Russell, a Fremont, New Hampshire, mother who left her job as pastry chef to raise two boys, ages 2 and 4. "But they should try cleaning their house with little kids running around and messing it up right after them."

The biggest driver of a mom's theoretical salary is the amount of overtime pay she'd receive for working more than 40 hours a week. The 18,000 moms surveyed about their typical week reported working 94.4 hours -- meaning they'd be spending more than half their working hours on overtime.

Working moms reported an average 54.6 hour "mom work week" besides the hours they spent at paying jobs.

Russell agreed her job as a stay-at-home mom is more than full-time. But she said her "job" brings intangible benefits she wouldn't enjoy in the workplace.

"The rewards aren't monetary, but it's a reward knowing that they're safe and happy," Russell said of her sons. "It's worth it all."