Thanks for Your Support!

Sometimes I come across some interesting people who show their support for my work by compliments, donations, and/or promotion. When it comes to spreading the word, I provide various tools to those interested in supporting me. The following is a site that lists widgets of some of my endeavors, feel free to include one of my helpful widget tools on your site: NM Media Widgets

An Awakening

There comes a time when we all have those eye-opening moments in life where we question the decisions we made in the past and grieve over the impact that they have made on our present day. We think of what we could be doing differently. We are disturbed at what our negative actions may have done to others...So many thoughts, so little time!

I realize that I am at a place in my life that some would call perimenopause -- the change before THE CHANGE. Every now and then, what seems good and looks good on Monday is not good and never was good by Friday. Gray hair is annoying to me. A bloated belly makes me cringe. Older men that once looked handsome to me just look old. Lines are beginning to show up on my face that weren't there a couple of years ago. Strange feelings, odd pains, and maybe a little voice that whispers, "Take a vitamin, seek out an herbal remedy, and when did you last exercise?" has now shown up. Whether it's hormones, stress, or the sun just not shining as bright from one day to the next, who knows? But the great thing about mid-life changes, you aren't that naive, fearful immature "think you know everything" brat that you once were in your twenties -- can I get an Amen!? Oh, I see them the twenty-something or early thirty-something who knows everything. Whether she is single, childless, godless, or irritable, she doesn't want to hear what anyone has to say! Although there are those who have yet to grow out of that mentality ( forties, fifties, and sixties) I am not talking about them today.

In midlife (thirty-something,) for some, there is now room in between your ears to really listen to what your elders have to say and appreciate their nuggets of wisdom rather than sigh and roll your eyes. Chances are you will be back to doing that in your forties while pushing them into a nursing home (LOL!) During your early mid-life season, there is usually a little more money in your pocket to do something meaningful with your life other than buy material items that tear, break or go out of style and crap that will only end it up in the toilet! (Someone out there reading this can relate!)

So I welcome thirty-something each year that I get closer and closer to forty-something. Who knows what I will be doing next? As the brain matures hopefully one will get a little bit more wiser!

Be blessed!

Nicholl

Dangerous Thinking

To expound upon my point of "thinking can be dangerous especially when it affects the lives of others" from the last blog post, on a broader scale I have to talk about our government.

Now usually I will shy away from talking about those in leadership, there is a scripture in the Bible (Romans 13) that keeps most believers' mouths under control. But I have to step outside the religious dogma and just say, "I am not a mind-controlled slave" and neither should you be. What do I mean? I mean the kind of person who will not do the following: question anything, challenge authority on lies, take a stand (go along just to get along,) and fight distractions or fleshly temptations that are designed to get him or her to not think. The mind controlled slave says things like, "Your crazy, I don't believe it. Stop reading so much. Don't you have something better to do besides think. I don't worry about anything. I never thought of that." It's one thing to be a slave to your job (you need to pay bills,) but it's quite another thing to allow your master to enslave your mind too!

I watch the television commercials, see the banner ads, go to the mailbox and see advertisements everywhere telling me, "Buy my product!" Even when you attend church, there is someone asking you for money. So I started paying more attention to what my government has been asking of me lately, "Serve me!" is the message I see. There is an old agenda being repackaged again and again wanting all of us to do more for government (the elite foreigners.)

President Obama's change message during his presidential campaign was nothing more than a celebrity endorsement for New World Order products. We were being set up for what is to come: volunteering for government testing, spying, fighting, recruiting, investing and more! Your time will not be your own before long. As for your money, it was never yours because by the time your thought process was manipulated by the media or bullied by self-serving groups, you gave it away to pay for yet another over-hyped and overpriced good!

Now I am all for helping out my government (I was indoctrinated many years ago with the patriotic gospel thanks to my deceased aunt's affiliations and the many guys in my family that served in the U.S. military,) but what's in it for me? I mean what will our government give my family and I besides everything we didn't ask for? We want money to buy and maintain a quality house that comes with a backyard within walking distance from a town in a nice school district. We need the financing to go into business for ourselves. We want what those who went before us got -- an American dream! We have been Americans for centuries, yet what do we get, a form to fill out at the welfare office when no one is hiring. It doesn't matter that my families blood, sweat and tears, just like yours, help build this nation! But yet, I am accused of being prejudice when someone who can barely speak English gets special privileges.

The wind of change has been blowing for some time now whistling, "Order out of chaos!" But is that what our government really wants? I mean from my vantage point I see what the old school folks have been telling me for years, "The rich is only getting richer!" A voice in the back of my mind screams, "Fight the power!" How can you fight something without the numbers or the money? That kind of thinking I know falls into the elitists' trap. They want you to feel powerless. Day and night they write legislation that is so long no man could read it all especially in a span of a few hours before voting on it. They push for their causes deceptively or in plain site while most of the dumbed-down populace laughs at a movie while seated on their comfy sofa eating popcorn.

I don't know about you, but I am starting to feel like we are indeed moving toward the end of some comfortable once good ole' day times of the red, white and blue into something dark and sinister designed to wipe the middle class and the impoverished good and bad off this planet in record time! Some groups and individuals are simply fed up with business as usual. For them, they are tired of parasites -- people who eat off of others hard work. I can agree with that point to a certain extent. But what I can't go along with is the tampering of one's belief system in a God who has brought so many peace in both their personal and professional lives. Maybe this is really why the elite is working so hard to get their agendas fulfilled, they are tired of God and everything related to him.

Each day many rich, evil elderly men and women are dying. Why would they care about you or me? I think they know that hell waits for them (they have seen the visions, had the dreams) so why not recruit some people to go down with them?

Nicholl McGuire
Truth Revealed...

I Was Just Thinking...

Thinking is dangerous when it means that it will affect others' lives. Case in point, this summer I created a timeline of all sorts of activities to keep my four active and at times very temperamental boys occupied. Of course, some of those activities would slightly inconvenience the man of the house like sometimes he will have to be at home with two of the boys and he will have to make his and their meals. To his silent response with a slight negative disposition, all I could say was, "We will all need to step up to the plate!"

You see, when you are a creative mind, like I am, day after day of television watching is a "No can do!" especially when you have children who are growing mentally, physically and spiritually everyday! As I write, I think of the actress, Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex in the City 2, explaining to her husband (Big) in the movie about how she didn't want them to become an old boring couple who was always at home watching television. Well, that's the way I feel especially with children! Our family isn't always on the go, but we aren't always in the same room with television blaring irritating one another either!

There is a time for all things. So I try to keep all things balance -- a little of this and a little of that. No activity is meant to be forever. No movie is meant to be watched a zillion times. No food is meant to be cooked every week. No park visit is everyday! I personally believe when you start making something routine, a tradition, or an everyday occurrence (unless of course it is a paid job,) you fall out of love with it!

Maybe that's why relationships don't last, there is no balance between togetherness and freedom to allow for people to just be. Oh well, maybe that's why children don't get along with parents, because it's always the same ole' same ole' "How was your day?"


Nicholl McGuire

Help For Your Mom Blog - A Beginners Guide

I thought this article would be helpful to my readers who have a parenting blog or just beginning one. I have one (http://whenmotherscry.blogspot.com) I have used most of these tips in the past and they do work, but do remember it's a slow process!

So you are either starting your Mom Blog or you have been blogging for a couple months now. At this point you are wanting to know how to become a much larger blogger than you are so that you can make a living or even some extra change in your pocket to support your habit. There are quite a few resources out there but you want to take baby steps first, eventually you will become better at what you are doing and reaching newer and better heights with your blog.

First things first is you want to buy your own domain name. While this may only confuse you and you don't want to spend the money on what you may only consider as a hobby now, it is truly worth it. It allows you to brand your blog and even turn it into a site rather than a customized journal running off another persons juice. Just remember when this is all confusing what is yours should be yours.

Next thing is to consider going over to your own web hosting service. This goes right along with buying your own domain and giving you full control over what is yours. If you do end up making the splash into a self hosting blog, consider using WordPress as your blogging platform. I use it myself and it gives me full control over my site and what I want on my site not limited to it's content. WordPress even offers plugins to optimize search engine optimization, ad revenue and more.

The next think you want to look into, social networking and social bookmarking sites. Both of these will prove to be invaluable when promoting your blog, branding your blog, creating back links and more. Some of the most popular and user friendly of these are: Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon and Delicious. These you can also incorporate into blogs posts giving your readers an easy way to share your content.

Up next is to comment on other blogs you find by search through blog search sites. This is a great way to build up your networking and make friends along the way. There are sites too that are Mom Blog Communities that you can join to build friendships, network and increase awareness of your own site. There are also directories focused on niches such as Mom Blogs that you can submit your rss feed and website to.

Now that you have begun the simple steps of increasing traffic and awareness to your site, you can begin researching how to increase the revenue from your site and become the blogger you want to be.

Brittany Hudson-Greer can be found blogging at her own mom blog - The Greer 5 http://thegreerfive.com. Where she discusses everything from kid friendly products to controversial topics.

Networking Events

I don't mind the invites to various events, but if you are seriously trying to recruit people wouldn't you provide the transportation at least to the first event?

I get invites from mothers, business people, relatives, and strangers on the street to go to all sorts events from flea markets to church gatherings. Its all well and good, but you would think after the person quickly interviews you and finds out you have four children, no babysitter, and one vehicle (that unfortunately can't hold everyone) that they would at least say, "I will take you, no problem!" You see, I am usually not sold on invites from strangers immediately anyway, because I am simply cautious of most people. I have found that there is always an agenda behind an agenda with some of these network recruiters (including some churchgoers) which usually involves giving someone money, service or both.

I think what frustrates me the most about these "recruiters" is that they are more concerned about "the numbers," "the money" and whatever else they are trying to push than the person. How many of these recruiters have asked me, "How are you doing?" or "Let's go out to lunch!" You can't blame people for the following like: finding every excuse in the world not to attend your event, ignoring your phone calls or turning their head when they see you. Your first impression made the difference to them. As far as they are concerned, they may have seen a nice person at first who genuinely liked he or she only to find out that you were more concerned about this person attending your event than getting to know them. (Didn't Jesus share who he was first rather than worry over people following him?) The person may have sincerely thought about going to your event only to find out you fail to return calls or return them way too late, don't give them enough time to get ready for your spontaneous invites, realize you don't have adequate transportation to get yourself to the event much less help them get there, you make promises you don't keep and the worse yet, you are running your mouth about the person without knowing anything about them! Stereotypes hold very little truth once you get to know someone!

Since I have received numerous let-downs from well-meaning recruiters -- I mean people, I think I have made the conscientious decision to create my own event complete with me, myself and I, as for meeting in person, well that's why we have Twitter now don't we?

New Book for Father's Day by Nicholl McGuire

You may have stopped at the greeting card aisle of a drug store seeking a card for your dad for his birthday, father's day or some other holiday and ended up settling on one that really didn't express how you really feel about him or opting out of buying him a card. It just doesn't seem right that every year a holiday comes up celebrating your father and/or the father of your children (some of you reading this have those too,) you just don't want to do anything. "Why bother?" You say. "It's not like he cares or would change his evil ways!" That's exactly why I wrote this book, because I want adult children as well as teens to express how they sincerely feel about their fathers while he is still young enough to do something about it and while you are still able to express your hurts.

I have personally witnessed the sons and daughters of fathers who waited too late to find their peace concerning their childhood issues and vice versa. It's so sad! Then later in life, they are passing on their regrets to their own unsuspecting family. Some grief-stricken sons and daughters end up acting like the very men they resent! In some twisted way their minds think that they are close to their fathers by acting like them in negative ways! We can all choose to stop the negative cycle of abuse by acknowledging our own pain, making right wrongs we have bestowed on our children (no matter how bad -- please do forgive yourself!) and most of all sitting down with the man who hurt you and asking him questions. Whatever way you choose to find the peace you seek so that you can move on, know that someone out here understands! Please do get my book by clicking the widget below and I pray it will help bridge the gap in your relationship with your father (or the father of your children with is own) this Father's Day and many more to come!

Nicholl

What I Need Fr...

By Nicholl McGuire

Book Preview

Know When to Write, Know When Not to

The Internet makes it extremely easy to write just about anything our little hearts desire, so with that you may write good, bad, or evil.

I was thinking about my purpose, my role in this life. I realize the length of my days aren't very long. The average human being lives well into their late 70s that's if he or she eats right, exercise, have good genes, live in a great community, etc. but compare that to the hundreds of years people lived in the Holy Bible, and that's not very long. Anyway with knowing the reality of my short existence on planet earth, I understand the significance of what action and inaction with a gift (also known as a calling, destiny or purpose) can and can't do. It can backfire and hurt if one should let it. Resulting in an individual abandoning his or her gift forever. It can elevate if a person cultivates his or her gifting. It can motivate one into other things if the individual tweaks his or her calling.

I have been a writer since I was nine years old, penning my first poems and jotting down notes in my diaries over the years (which I am not all that proud of, but I digress.) With knowing what my role is as a writer, just like a minister of a church preaching, I must be careful to write the words just as they were meant to be whether they are meant to encourage, persuade, convict, love, etc. I haven't always wrote my best and at times I was confused myself by something I wrote, but I thank God for his mercy and the opportunity for him to come into my own life to make a difference, so that I could help others as well.

Although Twitter, Blogger, MySpace, Facebook, Black Planet and many other social networking and blog tools are quite nice, they can also be very deadly. I don't suggest anyone write anything anywhere on the Internet including comment sections when they are in a bad mood, hormonal, confused, forgot to take their medication, had a few too many drinks, or even on a spiritual high after coming from church. The reason is we are held accountable especially as believers for everything we say (or don't say - that's another subject.)

There are times that a woman shouldn't speak just like a man shouldn't including on the Internet. Not everything that is in our hearts and minds should be told. We are so quick to type off a message not realizing the person on the other side of the world is indeed a being with feelings.

Sometimes there are some profound things that we read and write and the power we later experience is beyond words. There are those that may not receive our words well and may become easily angered. Does that mean we are to quit writing? No. The way I see it sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some. I just pray for those who go on and on about what they don't like about what I wrote and why I am not worthy of saying this or that. I don't work for people, I work for my God who is also a God to many others as well. True believers are all on one accord. We know what the other means even if it isn't articulated in the best way. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ who are out there fighting the good fight with their words!

We must be mindful of the God we serve and know when the time is right to write, just like when we sit before men and women in-person. We must avoid the following temptations: write about subjects that we know nothing about (no matter how many hits we can get,) lie, steal others' material, or say something without knowing all the facts. We can usually determine when something is not good to write about when we are in a ball of confusion ourselves about the matter.

May God bless all of you who tweet, blog, comment, survey, and/or review!

Nicholl McGuire