Mom Tips

Embracing Your Calling

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 1 Comment
This is me, “living my worst nightmare” (just kidding) speaking in front of 500+ people. Why does God call us to do things that make us so deeply uncomfortable, yet are such a blessing to others?

Let’s talk. What is holding you back from fully embracing your calling?

And FEAR doesn’t count.

If fear was your answer, in any way, shape, or form, give me a better reason why you are not totally living what you believe. You were put on this earth for a specific purpose and anything less is not acceptable. If you were called by God to accomplish something you will need to answer to Him alone for not doing it.

I promise, answering me is easier, and may be a first step toward living out your calling, because I’m going to pray for you to have everything it takes, especially the courage, to move forward!

If nothing else, get a book about someone with a similar calling who overcame all the odds and did it. Also, some dreams are not “realistic” and you gotta know when to let go and accept your limitations. But a calling is different from dream because when you take a step out into obedience to God, and start to take risks of faith HE WILL do everything within HIS power to provide, equip and protect you in this calling.

Maybe you are not a leader. Then get behind someone who is already carrying out a similar calling. What do you have to lose?

Is the problem “no support from your family”? Get down to the root of this issue. If you are married you should develop one vision for your purpose, and do the thing you both agree on! Don’t stay focused on the parts you don’t agree on. Build on common ground.

Are your parents holding you back because of their personal fears and failures? Are they trying to keep you SAFE in THEIR comfort zone for their “peace of mind”? Are they keeping you from fulfilling YOUR calling because it’s not quite what they had in mind, because you are all they have and they don’t want you to take any risks???? Honor them by fulfilling God’s calling. Go in faith.

After the event in 2019 in the photo at the top of this post, I heard many many stories about how hope was given, lives were changed, families were empowered to make brave choices… I stepped out of my comfort zone, and God blessed. And by faith, I’ve done it again since.

What’s holding you back?

Best Tip for Busy, Unromantic Moms

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 1 Comment

I have 15 kids and own a Publishing Company. I’m busy!

But not too busy for investing in marriage! Here is a bit of advice that will light up your love life. I try to keep our bedroom as a peaceful and romantic retreat.

By making the bed every morning and not letting our nest become a laundry pile or stowaway zone… we can have a place of relaxation and comfort at the beginning and ending of each day. Store laundry and kid-junk somewhere else. Sweep and vacuum often.

Only keep what inspires peace and delight in your special place.

Moms, make your room as uncluttered and beautiful as can be; you will be much more in the mood to enjoy your space with your husband if it’s pretty.

Even if the whole house is a kid-mess, make your room amazing. This room should be a first priority, but most woman make it the last. It’s easier to just shut the door.

Husbands will be more peaceful and content with the condition of the whole home, if he can count on the bedroom being a place of rest and romance.

Don’t let your bedroom become the place where all the junk is tossed when we clean the rest of the house. Make it beautiful today. You will find so much peace in this. When you go to a beautiful room at the end of the day, you might even feel like your work is done because your room speaks beauty and rest to your heart and mind.

Your might actually feel more romantic at the end if the day if your room is a place or peace. At the end of the day turn on peaceful music, light a candle, and enjoy the evening.

Sarah’s Mom Tips: Learn This Poem!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Getting started with Fun-Schooling? Here’s one important tip:

For every element of FUN that you ADD you must take away something that is boring, or irrelevant or frustrating to you or your child. Just adding Fun-Schooling can feel like eating dessert too quickly after getting over-stuffed with a triple plate of Chinese food. You are going to love Fun-Schooling, it can bring so much peace, joy and delight to your days. 🙂

Don’t forget Mom-School, being an example is your most powerful tool as a homeschool mom.

Memorize this poem…

“For each new element of FUN

Something DULL must be undone!”

Sara’s Mom Tips: Top 12 Beauty Tips for Busy Moms!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Busy mom, are you so busy taking care of your family that you have forgotten to take care of yourself? Did you wake up feeling beautiful, energetic and peaceful this morning? No? Did you know that tomorrow can be different? Here are some of my favorite beauty tips to help you thrive again. 

1. There are two things you can start doing this moment that will help you look and feel more beautiful.

  • Smile 
  • Improve your posture.

2. There are two things that you can do that will make all the other beauty efforts fade:

  • Put a frown on your beautiful face.
  • Slouch.  

3. I use organic coconut oil for everything.  Cover yourself in it from head to toe after a hot shower at night then sleep. This oil will renew your skin and does not make you greasy or clog pores, it also heals skin problems.

4. Change a few eating habits.  Eat more whole grains, fresh fruits, and natural meats and veggies instead of processed and packaged foods. Read labels. If you can not understand the list of ingredients, don’t buy the food–it might be packed with chemicals.  It is best to put good food into your body, as your body is constructed from the food you eat.  If you want to be beautiful, eat beautiful, colorful and natural foods.

5. Do not poison your body. Avoid high fructose corn syrup and white sugar. These things cause countless problems and make you look and feel zapped!  Say “No” to sugary drinks and soda. Avoid fake sweeteners. Scientists keep finding out that fake sugars cause cancer, and who wants cancer?

6.  If you love ice-cream, cheese cake, lattes and chocolate as much as I do, don’t deprive yourself 100%. That is not fun.  Limit treats to 2 or 3 times per week, but never 3 days in a row. Save treats for special occasions. When you indulge in sugary snacks three days in a row it is easy to start a sugar addiction, and day 4 will be one of irresistible sugar cravings. So just limit your treats, and enjoy them occasionally.

6. I drink fresh, unprocessed whole milk from grass-fed cows and use lots of Kerry-Gold Butter.  These amazing dairy products are pure and rich in nutrients.  These are the nutrients that will rejuvenate your body and help you recover from the weight gain and stretching of childbirth. If you have the nutrition your body longs for, the cravings will stop, and you will not need to over eat. People often feel hungry, and have cravings because they lack the vitamins, healthy fats, minerals, and enzymes that are found in raw milk.  When I am enjoying fresh milk and real butter I feel my best, and my energy is very consistent. I started drinking fresh milk right after the birth of my 3rd child, and my recovery and weight loss was rapid. Recovery was much harder with my first two children, because I had a normal American diet. 

7. When you wake up tired and cranky you are not going to shine.  If you are not getting enough rest, do this before bed: Drink about 10 ounces of water mixed with 2 Tablespoons of Liquid Chlorophyll and take 4 Wild Salmon Oil Capsules right before bed.  This combination will renew your body overnight. It also helps with weight loss after the baby, and is the best fertility booster I know of.  The nutrients restore the whole body and also helps to heal the reproductive system from harm caused by birth control or poor nutrition. 

8. If you eat nutritious foods, don’t worry about wearing out your body through pregnancy and breastfeeding. God’s design is perfect and babies are a blessing.  When you are nurturing new life, your body produces beneficial hormones to help your baby thrive and at the same time your body is rejuvenated and revived in the process. Most of the women I know who have large families are fit, youthful and vibrant. 

9. Don’t do the things that are proven to ruin your body: smoking, drinking more than one cup of coffee or wine per day, eating too much sugar, taking unnecessary medications, and using hormone altering birth control.  All these things damage your body. Find something better to do. Don’t settle for less than the best. You are worth it!

10. Drink a lot of water.  You know this, so do it.

11. Spend time in the sunlight and in the moonlight. Watch the stars, spend time in nature, plant a garden, camp, go outside without shoes on. Do all these things with someone you love, and the benefits are double! 

12. Live a life worth living! Ask yourself these important questions, and give yourself honest answers:

  • Am I where I belong in life? That means: Am I following my calling? Am I becoming who I was meant to be? Am I close to God? Am I being wise and loving in my relationships? 
  • What are my goals? If married – what are our common goals? 
  • What am I doing right now to reach those goals?
  • Have most of my life decisions been fear-based or hope-based?
  • Is my life headed in the right direction? If not, should I get off at the next stop and catch a different train that will take me to the right destination?
  • If I start over, change direction, start something new, or begin now to work toward my calling, dream or goals:
  • What is the WORST that could happen? Is the WORST worth risking?
  • What is the BEST that could happen? Is the BEST worth risking?
  • If I know I need to turn my life around or make an important change, what will I lose by not taking action?
  • What could my life look like in five years if I make the changes and work toward my goals, dream or calling.
  • What could my life look like in five years if everyday was basically a repeat of everything that happened last week?
  • What is holding you back from fulfilling your calling, living your dream or pursuing your goal? Is the thing holding you back more precious that your dreams, goals and calling.
  • Use the Mom-Schooling journals to record your thoughtful answers, and enjoy the relaxing benefits of Art & Logic therapy!

Let Them Be Bored

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 1 Comment

(excerpted from advice offered via a Facebook post in 2016)

let your child be bored

Mom Tip: Boredom is not a bad thing.  When a child is bored don’t look for a way to entertain them. They need a little time everyday when they don’t feel like doing all the normal things they usually do. They need time to think, ponder, reflect, tinker, wander, and think some more.   Modern parents don’t realize that boredom is essential to childhood development and parents are quick to feed the child’s first desire: To be ENTERTAINED. 

What is your child’s DEFAULT MODE when they have a moment of boredom?  Some kids turn to a device, a game, TV, a book, a coloring book, go climb trees, start drawing, or of course they start whining, picking fights and complaining.

I will take a little time now to think of every person in my family and see if I can answer that question: What is the first thing they want to do when they have a moment of boredom or free-time?

Me:  I default to cleaning… or nit-picking everyone else for leaving messes.

My Husband: He defaults to… me… He wants to have time with me, if I am busy he thinks of some errand to run.

Isaac (16): Music.  He wants to go do something related to music.

Anna (15): Hmmmmm… 1st she wants to talk or play with her sisters. If they are busy she goes to her room and dumps out her creative stuff, or bakes or asks for the password for the computer, or bickers with her sister. She always finds something to do, and there is a lot of variety in her choices.  She is the child who is NEVER bored.

Esther (14): Guitar practice and reading.

Rachel (13): Piano and Journaling.

Naomi (11): She wants to play Minecraft, but usually she takes the dog for a walk. If the weather is bad she rearranges all her stuff in her room.

Susie (9): She asks to use the computer, but usually ends up getting out an animal encyclopedia and makes tiny animals out of paper, then she cuts them out and gives them as gifts.  She made a zillion little paper birds recently, I showed her how to create a book with them.

Laura (7): Wants to watch Dogs 101, over and over and over. If I say no, she finds someone to play with or fight with.

Joseph(6): Just started playing Minecraft a month ago.  So first he asks to do that. When I say no he plays with Legos or draws Minecraft pictures.

Ember(3): Dumps her clothing drawer and puts on something that is her “favorite color” of the day. Once she changes her clothes she joins in on whatever Laura or Joe are doing. (click here to continue reading)

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