By Jason Nabb

Cindy and I had a meeting with our insurance guy this week.  I thought I’d write about life insurance.  I know, you’re thinking, “Here it comes, a boring lecture on insurance.”  Well, I do want to talk about it, but I hope it’s not boring.  We purchased a term policy a few years back and have had a couple kids since so we thought we should take a look at our coverage.  It turned out we were under covered.  As we talked with our agent, I realized, in most situations, when there is only one spouse who works, that spouse’s life is insured for a greater amount.  The assumption is that it would be more difficult to replace that income.  Now, I don’t profess to understand the actuary behind insurance, but the idea is that if a spouse dies, your benefit should be enough to allow for the interest it earns in a standard investment in a decent economy (yeah, right) is enough to replace the income of the lost spouse so that your current lifestyle could be maintained.  Meaning, in our situation, that if I died, Cindy could continue to homeschool the kids, living off the interest of investments made with the money received from life insurance.  Okay, I get it, and we didn’t have nearly enough insurance on me to make that happen.  My wife and children would have received a big chunk of dough if I kick the bucket, but it wouldn’t last as long as it needs to last.  So, we get more insurance on me. 

Then I thought, (and I hate to think about it, but that’s what we’re talking about) what if Cindy died?  We had even less insurance on her.  I thought, “that’s okay, I can still work.”  Only, I’d have to homeschool the kids, too, or at least have family friends help me.  There would be great expenses.  I’m guessing I wouldn’t be able to take as many clients and projects as well.  I figure I’d be able to work at about 40% capacity until my children were raised.  We did the math, and it turned out we need as much insurance on her as what we have on me.   Being partners in marriage, family and life, it should’ve been no wonder that would be the case.

You want your family to be taken care of if you die.  I’ll remind you, I’m not an insurance salesman.  I have no affiliations with any insurance salesman.  I just happen to believe in this particular idea.  Look at it this way, the money you spend on a policy pales in comparison to the hardships your family would face if you hadn’t bought it.  I’m not trying to scare you into buying life insurance.  Look into it yourself.  Unless you can afford to self insure (which is my goal, by the way,) you owe it to your family to investigate this issue.

Things to consider:

• Term vs. Whole Life
• Multiple Policy Discounts
• Good Credit Discounts
• Insurance Shopping Techniques

One article I found interesting was an article from money.cnn.com click here.  This article goes through several steps and explains the different aspects of life insurance.  Make sound decisions based on as much information as you can.  If possible, find an agent through a referral from someone you know.  God bless.

By Cindy Nabb

Ever have those days when nothing seems to go the way you want them to?  Yeah?  Me too!  What really bothers me is that I had a plan, ya know.  I knew exactly what needed to get done and how I was going to accomplish it.  I knew what order I was going to do these tasks and the precise amount of time it should have taken me to get them done.  Then…reality set in.  The kids came flying through the door with mud on their shoes, on their jeans and in their hair?  Everyone was fighting and somebody smelled.  So I had to address these issues which, of course, set all my plans into a tizzy.  

My plans aren’t always God’s plans for my day.  I didn’t take the time that morning to surrender my day to Him and have His will reign over my time.  He knows what needs to get done better than I, what order they need to be done in and how much time they should take.  So much better is His plan, if only, if only I would get myself out of the way, I could see it.  

Tomorrow will be different.  I will start my day where I should, on my knees, asking My Lord to reign over my schedule. Asking Him to be Lord of my life and my days, and when the day is done, I can see all that I accomplished, even if nothing is checked off of my list.  His list is so much more important.

Ephesians 6:18  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

By Cindy Nabb

Recently, my husband and I had the luxury of going to this years homeschool conference in our town and, much to my delight, it was an answer to prayer.  We have one little guy that has always been what I call a hands-on learner.  Traditional methods are hard for him.  Sitting down to a workbook is not his cup of tea and would only frustrate him and me.  We know he is an extremely intelligent kid.  He has always had a huge vocabulary, but would often use phrases in confusing ways and not be able to follow two or three-step instructions.  I felt like I had this bright kid locked in side this brain and I just needed to find the right keys to get him out.  I don’t feel like we are dealing with insurmountable learning disabilities just glitches. We sat down to listen to Dianne Craft, one of the featured speakers at the conference and immediately found relief.  We could see our son in the pictures that she painted of children with the same glitches as him.  

She has a book called Brain Integration Therapy.   In her book, she teaches you, the parent, to help retrain your child’s brain to move things such as writing from the right side of the brain to the left side.  Dianne Craft also talks about what she calls  The Biology of Behavior. This is how our gut and the gut-ecology, as she called it, can determine how we feel, act, behave and even learn. Yeast over-growth is the main culprit along with insufficient serotonin. Come to find out that these two things are related. I invite you to take a look at her site www.diannecraft.org and read through some of the handouts she has.  She lists other resources as well for further reading and investigation.

Dianne Craft has a Master’s Degree in special education and is a Certified Natural Health Professional. She has a private consultation practice, CHILD DIAGNOSTICS, Inc., in Littleton, Colorado.

By Cindy Nabb

One thing I detest is potty training.  I love having it done but the process…UGH!  Until now.  I was lamenting to a girlfriend of mine about how I feel about potty training and she said she hated it to but she found this e-book called 3-day potty training  by Lora Jensen and how helpful it was.  So I immediately jumped aboard.  Anything that can get this process over with in three days is the thing for me!  I was ecstatic to say the least.  My little one was about 26 months old when we took the plunge, much younger than my others were when I trained them.  I was bound and determined that this was going to work.  We poured over the book and got everything in place.  We waited for just the right weekend to begin.  Day 1 was a disaster, she peed on the floor all day long.  I went to bed doubtful of the method and knowing I would be up all night but we followed the plan.  She did it, she stayed dry and made it to the toilet in the morning.  Over the course of the next two days you could see the light go on and she knew what to do, her  ”Ah Ha” moment that Oprah talks about, I guess.  

Since then we have had minor setbacks where she would have days that she had accidents.  We just got back on the plan and then we were fine again.  I made the mistake of waking her up at night and taking her in to go potty.  It doesn’t seem like a bad thing, she would wake up dry and I didn’t have to change the sheets in the middle of the night but yet she wasn’t being trained, I was.  When I would forget to wake her, her bed would be wet.  So I got the book back out and reread what to do at night.  It worked!  She is doing so well and she is so proud of herself waking up dry in the morning and not having to go to the bathroom at all in the middle of the night.

By Jason Nabb

You’ll hear me say that a couple of times over the course of any given weekend.  My son, Isaac, likes to help fix stuff.  He’s got himself a tool box with all sorts of interesting things.  There’s a hammer, tape measure, a couple of screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, a head to a Star Wars lego jedi, some string, a Spiderman, a nickel and a piece of gum.  I love to hear him drop everything and shout “sure Dad!” when I call for him to grab this sordid collection of items and meet me somewhere in the house.

I’m not as handy as most guys around the house, but I have my moments.  Sometimes it’s just a loose knob on a cupboard, or a nail’s come up in the wood floor.  Sometimes it’s bigger like replacing the coupler on the laundry washer motor (you can do this, too!) or fixing the shower door.  Whatever it is, for at least the first five minutes, I can count on Isaac to give me a hand.  

It’s these silly little tasks that we have to do that are great opportunities to be a dad.  Grab one of your kids and head out for the hardware store.  Teach one how to hammer in a nail.  Destroy something together like an old desk that needs to be thrown out, or that lazy boy recliner from the basement that your wife has been wanting you to eliminate.  Take a child with you to do a mundane task that maybe you don’t even like to do and watch how fast that task turns into an adventure.

One thing that I do is I have a hook on the kitchen white board that has each child’s name hanging on it.   Every time I have an opportunity to take a child with me to do something, I look at who’s up on the hook.  I take that child and put their name to the back, rotating through all my kids that way.  This increases anticipation for the kids.  They know it’s just an errand, usually, and not a trip to Disneyland, but they love knowing that they’re next to go with Daddy.  Even if you only have  a couple of children, this works good for reducing arguments.  I also recommend only taking one child at a time.  Sure, there are times that you’ll need to take all of your kids, but seek out constantly those one-on-one moments with each child so that they get opportunities to open up to you.  Ask them questions while you’re looking for drain opener in aisle 8, or spraying for bugs around the foundation.  

Not only will you tie heart strings with your child, but they’ll pick up some valuable do-it-yourself knowledge as well.  Pretty soon, they’ll be tackling big jobs with you.  Hey, maybe even restore that old ’69 GTO you’ve always wanted!

By Cindy Nabb

My mother in law recently moved to where we live.  She is a widow, her husband, my husband’s father died suddenly almost two years ago.  She has been sad as anyone would be after losing the man she spent 40+ years with.  I can’t imagine but one day it may be my reality.  One day, if we use statistics as a guide, my husband may leave this earth before me leaving me here to take care of myself and wait for my turn to be with our Maker.  I am learning how to care for someone who has spent her life taking care of others.  She spent her life wiping noses, bottoms, working, worrying, caring for and caring over her children.  It is an art to not offend and offer help when none is needed but knowing when there is a need that I can meet.  I try to think two steps ahead and anticipate what her needs may be.

The dynamic of the relationship changes as our parents age and we as adult children need to recognize that it is hard for our parents to realize this shift.  They have spent their whole lives taking care of us.  Then all the sudden, in a moment sometimes, they are the ones in need of care. There needs to be a delicate balance of friendship, authority and caretaker.  I am learning that I need to be sensitive, considerate and, above all, patient.  God is really growing me through this new relationship.  My Mother-in-law and I are now shopping buddies and I am one of the few people she has in her life to talk to on a daily basis.  I consider it my responsibility to help her with anything she may need.

My children are watching.  They are watching to see how Mom handles this new situation.  I want them to watch and I want them to see how family cares for one another.  How we treat our elders.  Knowing that they are watching keeps me in check.  It helps me to remain patient and loving and to do what I say I am going to do.  

I love her and consider it an honor to get to help her and spend time with her.  I get to glean from her life experiences and my children get to have their grandma be an integral part of their lives.