A Local Non Profit-Options for Women in Dover, NH

I want to highlight this specific local non profit this month. They are Pro-Life and Pro-Family in all they right ways.

https://www.optionsforwomen.org/

Their Mission Statement:
Options is a Christ-centered ministry; our purpose is to glorify God through saving lives and providing life-affirming services to individuals and families in the community.

I remember when I first started going to our church DEC.  This was one of the things our church supported. They were doing a baby bottle drive.  Which meant that anyone who wanted to was encouraged to take an empty baby bottle and collect change, cash or checks to fill that bottle and bring it back within a few weeks. It's a great way to show support for an amazing local charity. At the time they were saving money for an ultrasound machine. Seeing a baby on an ultrasound makes it "real". I remember when I saw that little blob on the screen for each of my kids, things got a whole lot real after that. I won't throw a bunch of stats at you on this one, because we all know half of a third of an eighth of all stats on the internet are made up, right?  Or something like that. Hehe Needless to say, people have seen this make a difference in pregnancy and the decisions that come following it.

Options not only cares for expectant moms now.  They have grown so much in the last 14 years since I've been introduced to them.

They have Parenting Classes and a special class called FIT, Fathers in Training.
They have Counseling services.
They have Post-Abortion Recovery services called Beauty for Ashes
They have Perinatal Hospice Support
They have STD testing and Counseling,

They have a great online giving on their website.  You can give via credit/debit or echeck. You can donate not only money but other things like vehicles, assets, technology, gift cards and other misc things.  You can give monthly, weekly, quarterly and annually.  Or you can give a one time donation.

They have 3-4 fundraisers every year.  This March 31st they are having something called Keyboard Kapers, Where you pay to get in to see some local area young artists play music and all the proceeds from the tickets go to Options(Go to their website for more information).  Keep them bookmarked or ask to sign up for their updates so you can see what is going on with them throughout the year.

My husband and I have been supporting them for quite awhile now. Will you join us monthly or even with a one time donation?

Before I formed you in the womb
      I knew you
Before you were born
      I set you apart
               Jeremiah 1:5








Here's a picture of my little ones while they were in my belly.

Movies, Music & Manuscripts(Books)

What have I been watching, listening to and reading lately? 

Well here's a fun little story about me and my hubby.  The night before Valentine's Day we decided to watch a movie. My hubby has been wanting to watch Aliens again and we had it on our DVR, so what better romantic movie to watch than one with acid blood, a little bit of gore and no romance at all. We laughed about it and enjoyed the movie.

MOVIE:
The last new-ish movie I've seen is True Memoirs of an International Assassin.  Okay, I don't love Kevin James as an actor, but I do like him in a lot of things.  He brings back memories of Chris Farley for me. Some of his stuff is just junk, but I really enjoyed Mall Cop and Hitch.  So, when my husband went through his kung fu movie phase recently he stumbled across this gem on Netlflix. He asked if I would like to watch it with him and I said yes, so we added it to my list.  Then on a night last week when we wanted to watch something that wasn't super long we opted for this one.

Now, I'm not a movie critic.  In fact, I often like movies that the critics don't like.  If someone says to me the critics are stating that the movie wasn't very good, I say to myself, if the plot is interesting I'll probably see it then.

Check out the trailer here:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542768/videoplayer/vi3047077401?ref_=tt_ov_vi  or on your Netflix account if you have one.

The nice thing about it is that it's TV-14 rated due to violence and thematic content.  There isn't much language or nudity. It had me and my husband laughing several times.  What really struck me is that Kevin James must have done a lot of prep work for this one, he needed to learn all the moves with knives and guns and hand to hand combat.  I hear that this type of stuff isn't easy and that a lot of really great actors have a hard time with it, so call me surprised and thoroughly impressed.

TV SHOWS:
I won't list the amount of TV I watch, at least not in this post.  You would be asking me where I get all the time or how I manage to do anything else if you were to see what I watch on a weekly basis. So, I will share with you my top show this year.  For me it's Timeless on NBC. http://www.nbc.com/timeless?nbc=1
I am really hoping this gets picked up for another season or more. I look forward to watching this show every week with my husband. It's the only TV show we watch together. Time travel, expense, history, action, a little romance, intrigue and relatively clean!  I love a good sci-fi adventure show and they are extremely hard to come by.  I think this one takes the cake.  Of course, every time I say something like this the series tends to be cancelled or end after a couple of seasons.  One can only hope.  Oh a few more things, does the actor from ER that is on this show, Goran Visnjic(AKA Luca)-Garcia Flynn on this show, ever age! Matt Lantar played on Star-Crossed a couple of years ago, I loved that show and it got cancelled after a short first season. He is an amazing actor for being so young.  He can show his feelings extremely well. And come one, who can resist a show that puts together an unlikely trio of a Historian, a Special Forces Guy and a Computer Science geek? Well, I can't.  Give it a chance!

MUSIC:
I love Spotify. No, I'm not a premium user and it doesn't have all the songs I want, but seriously, if I NEED a song then I need to spend the money to get it. Some of you might be screaming at me, you don't pay for your music!!!!!  Actually, what I do is listen to artists on Spotify first and then once a year I usually invest in their music with gift cards I get for Christmas or my birthday.  I'm a big Christian Music Fan. I recently set up separate playlists for my workouts as well.  I separated them into warm-up, push it exercise and cool down.  I also love the fact that you can get genre music anytime you want.  Want oldies, jazz, classical, decade specific music...just type it in.  Then you can add the songs you like to your own playlist.  I've used Pandora before and my husband prefers it but I really just love Spotify.  Would I pay for it if it was no longer free?  Probably, as long as it wasn't a ton.   Anyway, want to follow me on Spotify? Be forewarned it's filled with worship music along with albums from Disney Movies. In the search box type in : 
spotify:user: Christie Lee Rennebu Stoddard
If I had to pick my favorite artist right now, I would say Crowder, specifically his album American Prodigal. 

BOOKS:
Currently I am reading book 2 in the Daughter of China series by C. Hope Flinchbaugh, it's called Across the China Sky.  Book 1 is a historical(set only 20ish years ago) christian fiction, that was an amazing read. It touched me like most other books don't. It's slightly like The Hiding Place(if you haven't read this you should), which is an autobiography, in the feelings it creates. It is so eye opening to a place in the world we often don't think about but that requires a lot of prayer due to it's persecution. Book 2 follows the same characters as they move forward in their journey of life and faith.  I'm half way through it and can't wait to finish so I can start book 3. 

I was notified recently that I've been approved by Moody Publishers into their blogger review program. This is where they allow you to choose from a long list of their books to get for free in exchange for an honest review within a certain period of time. I've chosen my first book and it's on it's way, so I look forward to sharing my thoughts on that as well. It isn't a fiction book and it's about Anxiety.

Well that's it for now.  Feel free to share your thoughts with me about what you're watching, listening to and reading.  I would love to hear about it!


Colossians 4:5

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

It's Valentine's Day! A Small Rant, Some Ideas and a little History!

Anyone else feel like screaming "Really! It's just another Hallmark Holiday!"

Yes, I have felt like this for a very long time. Let's take this one day, in the middle of the winter, when we in the Northeast are being pounded by snow and add another stress to the mix.  Not only have some of us gained a few pounds due to the "hibernation" affect, but a lot of us are so vitamin D deficient and serotonin deficient that we just want warmer weather to come. It can be a bit disheartening to have to spend time dealing with another holiday with pressure.

Okay, enough complaining 😡  What I realized awhile ago is that a lot of people have expectations on Valentine's Day that just aren't met for various reasons and this causes some serious conflict.  I always thought it best to celebrate relationships daily and proactively rather then waiting for a handful of times per year to pull out all the stops. I'm not saying occasionally going all out is bad, it isn't. I'm also not saying not to celebrate Valentine's Day, I'm saying talk about your expectations way ahead of time.

Do you know your spouse or significant other's Love Language.  Ever heard of Gary Chapman's book the 5 Love Languages? 
http://www.5lovelanguages.com/

On his website there is a button to a free tool to learn your or your child's love language. It doesn't take too long to do, answer the questions honestly and it gives you report about yourself. If you and your significant other do this and share it with the other, it'll give you some things to talk about this year and years to follow. It helps the other person not guess so much and opens lines of communication about what we each like and don't like.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Sheila Wray Gregoire's blog.  She is awesome.  You will find me linking to her posts a lot in my blog.  Check out what you get when you go to her blog and type in Valentine
http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/?s=Valentine

She has some great tips on expectations, disappointments and a lot of great ideas.

Ever wondered Where Valentine's Day came from?  Here is a cool 2-3 minute video from the History channel.  http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day

Lacking money this year, try something sentimental.  Write that special someone a letter telling them what you like or love about them, what makes them special to you.

Have kids? Teach them a little about love languages and sentimentality with cute little homemade hearts for their family and friends.  I remember getting a homemade heart from my oldest niece when I was a teenager and I came across it a few years ago when I was cleaning out some old stuff.  It was so cute.

So, what am I doing for Valentine's Day? Well, my husband & I don't celebrate it. Mostly because our anniversary was at the beginning of February. But, sometimes we trade letters or something like a chocolate bar that we like.  Our kids have done the normal exchange of goodies or cards with their classmates at school and they also got together with my sister to make and decorate heart shaped cookies.  I would do this, but my cookies turn out awful and no one wants to eat them. My sister's cookies however are something special and it gives them some quality time with her as well.

Here's some biblical verses on Love:   http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/love-bible-verses/

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Before You Donate, Make A Budget! Also, one time donation ideas.

OH NO!  YES, I said BUDGET.  As if that's a dirty word or something. 

The definition of a budget is: an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time. 

Really you just need to know what's coming and going and when. If you are like so many people in this world you don't know where your money is coming or going on a daily or even monthly basis, which can cause a lot of aggravation for yourself and especially in a marriage. I'm not going to bore you to death with talk about budgeting, instead I will put some links to some various websites that I've found helpful in the past.

http://www.crown.org/
http://www.daveramsey.com/
http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/?s=budget
http://family.custhelp.com/app/answers/list/kw/budget/search/1

I currently use Mvelopes.com as our software to track all our finances, I've been using it now since the 1st year of our marriage.  It just works better for me.  It can be very simple to use and you can use it for more complicated things as well. 

There are a lot of budgeting forms you can download for free online, a lot of different advice from various sources and you can even get some free tracking tools to see where your money is coming and going.  However, a lot of the free tools don't allow actual budgeting, so do a little bit of research and then make a decision.  If you still don't know which is better, try some out.  A lot of places will give you a free trial and those that are free you can try out and see if you like it or not.  Check out your bank customer service as well. A lot of people don't know that there is financial assistance available for budgeting and investment, usually for free at your local bank or even over the phone.
Once you have some type of knowledge of where your money is going , then you can decide how much you are going to donate and where. How to decide how much to donate? Well there is a lot of information out there and they vary from person to person. Is it too little, too much, is there such a thing as too much and why?

https://www.gotquestions.org/tithing-Christian.html
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=40
http://time.com/money/2792145/the-right-amount-to-donate-to-charity/


Now, some of you might be saying there is no way I can find any extra money to give. If you have a heart to give there is always a way.  Especially one time gifts. So if you find that you can't commit to something monthly and you want to give, here are some ideas of what you can do:

1. Ever heard of an eat down?  
This could be as simple as eating down your pantry. You know those cans of soup, beans and other canned goods you might have bought because they were on sale and then didn't use them? Yeah, those.

To the extreme. Quite a few years ago a friend of mine literally ate down their entire house and she had 4 boys. Of course toward the end of the eat down they were eating cake for supper and the boys loved it. Then whatever your budget you had for groceries for the time of your eat down you would put toward your donation.  

Don't forget about your freezer too.  Here are some links that talk about eating down.

http://goodcheapeats.com/2012/12/prepare-to-eat-down-the-pantry-2013-challenge/
http://www.littlehouseliving.com/cooking-challenging-eat-pantry.html
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-i-save-money-by-eating-down-the-freezer-love-your-freezer-215862
http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/eating-pantry-save-eating-whats-cupboard/story?id=28821545

A lot of people give up on this, myself included, when you can't find easy recipes for what you have.  Sometimes you need to give up on recipes and just go with the flow.  Eat breakfast for supper or just have a plate full of food that satisfies hunger. 

Another thing you can do is the beans and rice challenge, this challenge can also be helpful to help you empathize with a lot of countries around the world where this is their main source of food, and often times it's only once per day. Just be prepared with some beano or something before hand, because otherwise it could get explosive in your house!  I haven't done this with our kids, but I would like to try it when they are a little older to help them understand a bit more.

https://www.solidrockinternational.org/riceandbeans/


2. Give up something indulgent for 30 days and give the money as a one time gift
For example: coffee, chocolate, shoes, anything that is extra for that month. Or go all out and give something up that you find you can't live without, this can be a real stretch for most people including me. But it can show us how to empathize with those less fortunate than ourselves.

Check out this article about Lent, it starts March 1st this year.
https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-Lent.html
This is an interesting concept for Lent:
https://40acts.org.uk/

I enjoyed this broadcast as well recently:
https://www.moodyradio.org/programs/building-relationships/2017/02-2017/2017.02.04-the-good-of-giving-up/


3. When you go grocery shopping pick up some things for your local food pantry as part of your groceries.

This is a website where you can search local area pantries and if you click on the more information it'll give donations times/dates as well as some contact information.

http://ampleharvest.org/find-pantry/


4. Have any spare change hanging around?  Some people still carry money with them and when they spend those dollars they receive change. You'd be surprised what you can find hanging around your house-check under those couch cushions(but make sure you have your vacuum handy when you do) , your car, or in the bottom of your purse-if you have one. Put aside a jar and put all that excess change in it, at the end of 30 days count it up and donate it to something your passionate about.

5. Get kids involved. Do they get an allowance?  Do they have a job? This would be a great way of teaching compassion and some type of budgeting with them. Talk about various reasons to save and get their heart involved with something. Ask them what tugs at them and have them donate to something that gets them excited. 

Operation Christmas Child with Samaritan's Purse
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
Samaritan's Purse Gift Catalog, You can give things like chicks, goats and wool bearing animals. As well as clean water, food, blankets, fun things like soccer gear or spiritual things like gospel booklets
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/gift-catalog
Some other Local Charity.
https://www.guidestar.org/NonprofitDirectory.aspx


6. Don't have the extra money right now, how about volunteering your time or gifts in some way.

Here's some biblical encouragement on the subject.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A5&version=NIV
James 1:5

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+cor+9%3A7&version=NIV
2 Corinthians 9:7

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Children International and our Sponsor Child

Before I was married I would receive mail asking to sponsor a child or give to a charity. Occasionally I would respond with a little here and there.  I decided in 2002 that I needed to do something small but consistent and wasn't sure where to put my money. The next day I received a letter in the mail with this sweet little picture inside.

The tug I felt was probably exactly what the company was looking for, I signed up and the rest is history.

You see it's 14 years later and Romnick is turning 18 next month! This particular organization is great about having the sponsor child write a couple of times of year, they also send letters letting me know how his health is doing and if there are any immediate concerns for his health, and of course with the changes in technology they also have the ability for me to send him letters online.  They send me information through the mail with already written cards with his language on it where I can sign them for various holidays that I have pledged to support. They also tell me what the special funds get the child, for instance birthday presents or Hope fund.  I can change my support amounts and information online. Their customer service is really great as well, through the phone or through email.

A little bit about Romnick and his family. They live in Quezon City in the Philippines. He lives with his mother, who is a daily worker and his father who is a driver. He has 6 siblings and they all live in the same small home. Up until last year he attended school, but now due to money issues he is helping out at home as needed. When he writes he tells me about where he and his family have been on their trips around the city and what types of activities he is enjoying at the time. He has mentioned a passion for sports in the past and he seems to do really well with art. This is his current picture.

He's slightly taller than my 11 year old son and the same weight.
One of the things I like about the up to date photos is that I can pin them to the wall where I can see it constantly, it keeps me accountable to think and pray for him and his family. Truthfully it's a passing thought most days, but I want to be more intentional about it. Support stops when the child turns 19 and then you can trade contact information with them, however, in asking if I could continue to support Romnick's family after he turns 19, they do allow this since he has younger siblings but they don't allow the exchange of information while you support the family in any way. I am guessing that is to protect people from direct requests.

Children International's website is  https://www.children.org/
Back when I decided to become a sponsor I didn't know what to look for in a charity but the information I did find on this one was pretty decent so I went for it.  Now there are sites that you can go look up charitable organizations to see how much of your money is actually going to the end cause and how transparent they are with what they do with their money. One such site is:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Downfall to this website is that the organization has to meet the minimum financial revenue of $1 Million.

SO WHAT NOW? Maybe you are asking why you should care about this or about people outside of our country.  There is a lot of political upheaval lately , which I'm not going to get into, I don't think I have any wisdom to add to that conversation at this time. Why not take care of people in our country first?  I'm not saying you shouldn't take care of those around you. In fact you should support things that you are passionate about and know why you are passionate about those things.  For me, this was one of the first things that pulled at my heart strings for giving and it still does and I wanted to share this with you.  Maybe you've always thought about doing something like this, don't wait, just do it. This is one of the places in my life that I don't procrastinate and that's saying something from a life long Procrastinator.

Show your compassion in some way that builds someone else up. Who is your neighbor and how can you help them out?

For some Biblical encouragement, read about the Parable of the Good Samaratin below.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A+25-37&version=NIV

Why am I starting a blog?

Well here goes nothing or something...

I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for the last year or so. Why?  Well, I have a lot to say about things. So why should anyone care what I think? My voice matters just like everyone else. I have a hard time articulating a lot of things when I am face to face with people.  I lose my words or just can't find the right way to say them so they come across the way I want them to.  I am guessing a lot of that has to do with being an introvert and having lost a lot of my brain cells after having 2 kids or lack of brain use, etc. Most of those cells have never regenerated or are long hidden. 

In my blog I want to showcase the things that I'm passionate about.  What does that involve? Begs the question, what am I passionate about:  GOD.  Yes big G-O-D letters.  I'd like to think that my day revolves around Him, even in the small decisions I make, even in the cleaning of the bathroom or doing the dishes.  Mostly it's an afterthought. I cringe when I write that, but I want to be real.  I think most of us are like this, we don't think about why we do things until after we've done them.  So, the blog.  It's a way to keep me accountable, at least I am hoping as much.  

So, what is this going to look like?  I am going to attempt a weekly post to show people what I've been up to, but also to showcase something I am passionate about. To share it with friends, family and hopefully a base of followers outside that circle as well.

There are a lot of local and international non profit organizations that our family supports. A lot of local (and not so local) businesses that I would like to write about. I love movies and books, and I'll share details about these things.  All while trying to bring awareness to something you might not have otherwise known about or cared about.  

I want to raise awareness and support in various ways.  I'll be doing giveaways (new or gently used), linking to other blogs that have impacted my life or others I know,  and trying to be more intentional about life in general.  

Follow me on this journey and let me know what you think.  I only ask that you be honest and kind when you do. In the world we live in, we need more people building each other up than breaking each other down.

I would love to hear about things you are passionate about and things you would like to read about. 

1 Thessalonians 5:10-12

He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.