By Veronica McDonald, author, artist and mom!

Don’t miss Veronica’s collection of Christian testimonies on her Heart of Flesh web site as she rolls out Volume 8! Previous Journals are available in print version as well as archived on line. She has a children’s journal as well, “Pure in Heart.”

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Heart of Flesh Literary Journal

Mom’s The Boss

If you’ve never had that moment with your child or grandchild when they said, “You’re not the boss!” or behind your back, overheard, “She says that, but she won’t do anything!” Then you either don’t have kids, or you are not paying attention. They have said it, I promise.

If you have heard this and done nothing, shame on you. No wonder the world is in such a chaotic state. It is my opinion that, although this lack of consequences for childish mischief may have made it too late for some (and lack of discipline in the courts have made it worse,) we can only start NOW, with the children in front of us, to make it right.

Ok, so, stepping back a bit, why did I entitle this “Mom’s The Boss’? Speaking from my own experience as a “stay-at-home” mom, it was I who spent 90% of the time with our 6 children. If you are a single mom, you’ve then got 100%, not counting daycare, if you work outside the home. When my kids acted up and needed discipline, I was the one who delivered. I was and still am a believer in “consequences.” Whether that is a switch, a wooden spoon, a paddle, time out (without devices) or manual labor, something’s gotta give! For larger infractions and larger children (teens) sometimes I deferred to “wait ‘til Dad gets home,’ or “Dad and I will have to work out your punishment.” I tried to “build up” the fact that Dad had the first say in all things discipline, with God as his “boss” in the hierarchy of the family.

God is the ultimate Boss.

But you are with the children, whether a stay at home or a working mom (outside the home.) So, you must be ready to deliver on infractions as they come up. I would not be so bold as to say you get up every morning ready for a fight, however, I did have twins (my firsts) that made it hard to just relax and enjoy them!

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*Here’s a treat that will keep on giving! This Bible Wheel is $7  for hours of learning and fun. Order today, free shipping! Professional Mom Patti McDonald

Hi!

I think all Easter baskets need a few treats that are Christ-centered.

Check out this adorable “Bible Wheel” surprise I’m tucking into all my baskets this year.

It’s something that kids & teens will all be excited about and actually use to deepen their faith.

Plus, it will last a little longer than those mini eggs and peeps!

Check it out here.

Talk Soon,
Mary-Kate

I’m going to start the New Year off with a subject that, in my opinion, has been avoided of late. The subject of Hell. The place, and it is a place, the purpose, the problem, and the person.

When I say, of late, I mean that for the past few years I’ve noticed a Heavenly Gospel, which is good, as there is a Heaven also, but it seems to me that the subject of Hell has been left out of the conversation (sermons) in the last few years.

It is only appropriate to discuss Hell because when we speak of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His whole reason for coming to Earth was to save humanity from Death and Hell.

So, let’s start with “the place.” It is a place of eternal suffering. When you die, you either go to Heaven or Hell, there is no “in between” or limbo, as is thought in some religions. You live, you die. It seems trite or disrespectful, but it is the truth. Hell is described in the Bible as “a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth…” Among other descriptive words found in scripture, it is a horrible place, separated from the God who created us.

There is a purpose for Hell. It was created by God for the Devil and his angels. As time has no limits with God, before the Man was on Earth, the angels rebelled and Lucifer, God’s favorite angel decided he could be God and was remanded to Hell. That he has some power before the end times is not for me to speculate, however, when the end of the world as we know it happens, and it will happen, the Devil and his followers will be cast “into the Lake of Fire” for eternity.

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When Joe and I married, I didn’t ask him if he believed in Santa Claus or if he would want to teach our future children about him. But I did ask him if he believed in Jesus.

At the time, I was not as close to my Savior as I should have been, however, within a year of marriage, I began to miss going to church and that started a whole realization that Jesus is Lord of ALL. I had even said (didn’t tell Joe) that I didn’t want to have children, but this “opening all the closets of my heart” started a whole new direction in my life. I gave my whole heart to Jesus and asked Him what HE wanted for my life.

The trajectory of my life changed immediately as all my goals and deepest wants were about being pleasing to God.  Within a few months, I was impressed by the Holy Spirit to quit my job with a local endodontist, get off birth control pills and in what I now call, getting ready for God’s plan, began to get more involved in Bible Studies, church events, and used my home time to listen to radio programs with awesome Bible scholars like J. Vernon McGee, and others who prepared me for the road ahead.

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A note from Professional Mom: Escape Rooms are “the thing” this year!  How about a discounted download of a fun Christmas activity for a home party or church gathering. Thank you “Teach Sunday School”!

Hi!

Don’t let Jesus take a backseat to Santa this Christmas.

Do your kids know the real reason we celebrate Christmas?

We designed a fun little game you can print out and play to reinforce the 4 key elements of the Nativity story.

You can print it out here.

Enjoy!
Mary-Kate

Teach Sunday School sent some Thanksgiving downloads of fun activities while the kids are off from school! Enjoy!

Hi,

Need a fun activity to keep the kids busy today?

We just posted 10 printable Thanksgiving craft projects on the website:

https://teachsundayschool.com/i/thanksgiving/

I’m particularly in love with all the Scriptures of Thanksgiving Pumpkins & the Turkey Tickets.

Grab the templates here.

Enjoy!
Mary-Kate

Dear Readers:

If you viewed my video tip today on my Facebook page, you heard about some of the healing properties of Vaseline.

It’s a real “blast from my past” but my mom used Vaseline (100% pure petroleum jelly) for almost any rash, itch, flake, burn, scrape, you could ever imagine.

New moms, you can use it on diaper rash or even those skin creases that become irritated.

Another real healing help that you may not know about is, Witch Hazel. It’s an astringent (liquid) that can be used to keep bruising down for those bumps and scrapes that happen almost daily with youngsters.

Bruises, bumps, scrapes, sunburn, rashes, acne and bug bites are just a few of the uses for this product. My mom uses this, to this day, and recommends it for all of us.

Vinegar is a healing agent as well. Use it on insect bites, as a repellent, weeds, ants. clean pet ears, mix with water and uses a steam bath, dress wounds.

And finally, Vicks Vaporub, another nostalgic product that I grew up with. Use it for those little congested chests, and a dot under the nose to help a stuffed up nose.

Some of you new moms, and maybe some older ones will get many uses out of these old time, but everyday products.

Let me know if you have used any of them of if you try time from my recommendation!