Mother’s Day, in my opinion, always seems like a good reason to receive some momma bling. I must give props to my hubby who had a fabulous mother’s ring designed for me when our youngest was born a few years back. I learned then that not all mother’s rings have to be cheesy. Finding the perfect ring to fit your style and budget just involves a little thinking outside of the box. Consider purchasing a ring that you love on clearance and changing out the stones (like my husband did), thin stackable gemstone bands, initial rings, or name rings. I even love the thought of birth dates burned into a simple leather band. For more momma bling inspiration, visit our Pinterest Mother’s Rings board.

1. Handcrafted 22K gold, diamond & gemstone stack rings by Stephanie Albertson

2. The ORIGINAL Microband Rings by Martin Katz

3. Sterling Silver Multicolor Cubic Zirconia Stackable Ring Set at Berricle

4. Estate Seaman Schepps “50’s” Multicolored Gemstone Band Ring at Betterridge

5. Sterling Silver Gemstone Moon Band Ring with custom stones by JuJuBySarah

6. Stackable Initial Rings by Pentimento Fine Jewelry

7. Hand Crafted Engraved 3mm Stackable Ring in 14k Gold by Sorella Jewelry Studio

8. Gold and Enamel Stackable Name Rings by Hidalgo

The other day, my oldest son scraped his knee while doing what boys do. Because he was bleeding, he brought it to my attention so that I could clean it up and put a bandage on it. The next day, my youngest son scraped his knee while doing what boys do. Just like he saw his older brother do the other day, he brought it to my attention. Of course, I was concerned, but once I saw that there was no blood coming from his little scrape, I quickly said, “You’re ok.” This made him greatly unsettled. It took me 30 minutes to realize that I had handled this situation all wrong. To him, this scrape was his “suffering” and all he wanted was for me to have a bit more compassion.

com·pas·sion noun \kəm-ˈpa-shən\
: sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. merriam-webster.com

All he wanted was for me to truly see his pain and help him to fix it. He certainly didn’t want me to dismiss him like I did minutes prior and I don’t blame him. After all, I have felt pain, have needed compassion, and have received it. In fact, I continually receive it.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

I am so grateful that I had a chance to fix this situation. I scooped up my baby, asked him to show me his scrape, told him that that I was sorry that he got hurt, cleaned his scrape, prayed for him like he asked me to, gave him a big hug, and didn’t let him go until he felt good enough to go on his way doing what boys do again.

This incident makes me think of all the times that I have seen someone struggling with something. Maybe I have not exactly identified with that specific area of hurt, maybe I have no clue how to “fix” it, or maybe I have been too self-absorbed to truly care. Whatever the reason, I am now more sensitive to the active part of compassion.  I realize that acknowledgement, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a selfless word of encouragement, a prayer, and any attempt to help alleviate the suffering is far more important than just “feeling sorry” for someone. Starting today, I am going to be more compassionate to those around me; not just in feeling but in doing.

A few weeks ago while worshipping in the car with the kids, we started talking about how God loves us and how much we love Him. My youngest son said to me, “I just want to do a cartwheel!” This made me smile. In public settings, sometimes I feel like I hold back my worship because it may not be “pretty” or it may offend those who worship differently. And there are other times where I am all in and I then find my self taken back by an individual who doesn’t think that I have “entered in” enough. Regardless of the circumstance at hand, my worship should always be a genuine expression of my love for God and who He truly is.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:23-24 NKJV

So my simplified response to my son was, “If you want to cartwheel, you cartwheel. If you want to shout, you shout! If you want to twirl, you twirl. Just worship Him with your whole heart.” And he did indeed do cartwheels during worship team practice that week. This cartwheel is my little reminder to hold nothing back, to just be authentic, and to worship Him in spirit and truth.

Growing up, my first response to an offense was to “cut off” the person so that their “negativity” did not spread anywhere else in my life. Sometimes that might be necessary, but most of the time, I have found that the negativity that I need to get rid of in my life is my very own. Instead of me questioning, “Why are people so mean?” (and which, by the way, mean people aren’t going out of style any time soon), I should be asking myself, “Why don’t I extend more grace?” That doesn’t mean that I have to be best friends with people who don’t pour into my life in a positive way. It just means that I am not “off the hook” because of it. It does not serve as license to complain, gossip about them, or continually make passive aggressive #Thru4RealThisTime #SoDone #SpringCleaning #IAintSweatinU comments in the social media world. I realize that doing these things really doesn’t change the existing state of the situation (they’re negative, and I’m negative right along with them). I am thankful that God extends great grace to me on a regular basis, and that serves as reminder to me that He also expects me to extend grace to others on a regular basis.  So I’ll start with the words that I choose in response to these “offensive” situations.

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Eph. 4:29 NKJV

I am going to challenge myself to choose my words wisely in these situations, extend more grace, and walk in greater peace.

This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

For some reason, at the last minute, the last two big birthday parties that I have planned for my kids have been forced to turn into very small parties (and by small, I mean party of six).  But I have never had more fun at a “small party” in all my life.  My kids have taught me how to appreciate the beauty of simplicity and how you don’t have to wait for other’s to get “on board” to have a good time.  I am going to challenge myself to be thankful for what I have been given, open my eyes to what is around me, and enjoy myself, even if it’s by myself.

No one is harder on me than me. I tend to get “Superwoman Syndrome” and that always leads me down a road of destruction. I’ve got to take care of this, take care of that, be here, be there, do this, do that, and never need a break from it all. Once you catch “Superwoman Syndrome” people are attracted to it and expect even more out of you, which only makes the syndrome worse. In no time, you realize that it is nearly impossible for you to do it all and be everywhere all at once. Instead of being at peace about unrealistic expectations, I get down on myself. The reality is that someone will always be let down. But the good news is that they are not losing sleep over it like me. So, I am going to check my priorities, take care of what’s really important, lose the “Superwoman Syndrome”, and Just Be Easy on myself today.

As most of you know I’m from Fiji and one of the main ingredients we Fijians put in all our dishes is coconut. So when I saw this recipe  from Joy of Baking I knew it would be perfect for Valentines Day. I decided to use thin twigs instead of a dowel to give it a natural look and downloaded free Valentine printable’s from Party Box Design. Aren’t they so cute!

I love this recipe because it doesn’t overwhelm you with too much sugar like most cupcakes do. It has a hint of lemon and the shredded coconut on top of the cream cheese frosting is so delicious!!

Let someone know they are loved by baking them this for Valentines Day:)

Lots of Love

Suzy

Download these free printable You Are Loved! Valentine’s Cards here.