Pantene Hair Cutting Update

In 3 weeks, over 500 people will gather in Clinton to have their hair cut for Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program. The hair is then made into wigs for women who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy from fighting breast and other female cancers. The wigs are free. The hair that was donated last year helped us open up a wig bank at St. Dominic's Hospital in Jackson. Before last year's event, there was no wig bank in this state. I recently received an email from a lady who had the smile put back on her face after she had lost her hair due to chemotherapy. Here is what she wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbie, while I was taking chemotherapy for breast cancer, I lost all my hair. People would tell me when my hair grew back I would have more beautiful hair than I had before......a bad joke in my case. It has been a year since my last chemo treatment and my hair grew back, but not a good crop on the top of my head. It is very thin. Today, I visited the wig room at St. Dominic's Hospital. A room full of hair!! I tried on several and made my selection. I asked the price and was told I owed nothing. It's free? Yes! I wanted you to know how much I appreciate the person who actually grew my "new hair" and to tell that person thank you. Thanks to you, Barbie, for getting the word out by donating your own hair and to all the people involved. This experience of "new hair" really humbled me and is helping me to feel better about my self image as well as helping me get my life back. Now I don't have to wear a hat all the time and for the first time in a long time, I smiled to the mirror.....What a thrill it was! Sincerely, Jeryl in Brandon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeryl's email made my day. It is amazing to hear how a simple wig gave a boost to her self image and made her feel more like a woman. On June 9, we'll make more days brighter for some women in Mississippi.

My daughter Gracie and I will have our hair cut on this day, along with Stephanie Bell-Flynt and her daughter Stevie (and you'll noticed both daughters are in the commercial). This commercial will begin running soon in the hopes of encouraging other women, men and children to sign up and join us.



(By the way, I wonder where Gracie got her southern drawl? Most people probably don't know the word "hair" has 2 syllables: "hay-yeh")

The Invasion of Complaining!

Something has invaded our house and I don't know how it got in. All of a sudden, my children have started whining and complaining about anything and everything: "my shoes are too tight, my shirt has ketchup on it, I don't like that, I don't want that, that's mine, I don't want to play with that, I don't like broccoli..." And the list goes on. Needless to say, we've been having daily conversations about how God does not like murmuring, complaining and whining (and neither does mom and dad).

Complaining is a corrupt form of conversation that causes many people a great deal of problems in their lives and it opens many doors for the enemy. Complaining and grumbling words are destructive; they destroy the joy of the one doing the complaining and can affect other people who have to listen to them! Ephesians 4:29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths." Complaining and murmuring pollute our lives and probably sound like cursing to the Lord.

When I was in elementary school, one of my teachers had a "complainer container". It was a small box which sat on her desk. Anytime one of her students complained about something, we had to drop a coin in the box. At the end of the month, the money that was collected in the complainer container was donated to her local church. By the end of the year, the collected coins were fewer and fewer. We got the point!

One of the qualities I admire about my co-worker Maggie Wade is that she is a thankful person. Truly thankful people do not complain. They are too busy being grateful for the good things, they don't have time to notice the things they could complain about.

How many times have I complained about what is going on in my life? When we complain about our current situation, we remain in it. But when we praise God in the midst of difficulty, He raises us out of it. The best way to start every day is with thanksgiving and gratitude. When we do this, we get a jump start on the devil because he will definitely try fill our thoughts and conversations with evil things during our day. We can complain and remain; or praise and be raised!

For The Mothers

We all have mothers. I didn't always agree with mine and no doubt, I rolled my eyes at her (and behind her back) on numerous occassions. I used to think that moms just cooked, rocked babies and cleaned house. Now I know those are just some of the responsibilities that most moms take on. Financial guru Dave Ramsey once said that if motherhood were a salaried position, a mother should be paid $149,000 a year! There would be alot of rich mothers out there for sure.

Over the years, I've come across proxy mothers who feel the same way about their "children". You probably know some of them or perhaps you are one: those are women who never bore children or who can't have children, but they quickly find a child to nurture as their own. They babysit when needed, remember birthdays and holidays, take them to get treats, and encourage that child like he was her very own. In my opinion, there is a special place in heaven for all of those "moms".

Allison Muirhead took pictures of me kissing each of my children. Next to each photo is the scripture verse I prayed over and recited for each child while I was pregnant with them. I'm happy to share Lilly Faith's picture and verse with you and hope if you have not done so, you will find a verse for your children. No matter their age and no matter whether they live under your roof or not, I believe it is imperative for us to pray over our children. I've often said if we don't pay over our children, Satan will prey on them at some point in their life.

"I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, will give you a spirit of wisdom and reveltaion so that you may know Him better." Ephesians 1:16-17

Trying To Be Beautiful

This month, I'm honored to be on the cover of "Beautiful" magazine. We did the photo shoot in March for their Mothers Day edition. You can find "Beautiful" in the hot pink stands across the metro area at places like Banner Hall, Material Girls, Two Sister's Kitchen and Keifers. The magazine is all about fashion, makeup and articles which make women feel 'beautiful'. Again, thanks to editor David Creel and artistic director Holly Collums for asking me to be a part of this project.

Ok, so I admit, I'm having a hard time 'feeling' beautiful these days. I'm tired of wearing black and looking at the pooch on my lower tummy. Sure, I'm exercising and dieting. I'm even continuing to apply my anti-wrinkle cream at night to offset these wrinkles that seem to have popped up after my delivery! Then I was reminded of the words Peter wrote about women in I Peter 3:3-5, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful."

I don't think Peter was suggesting women neglect their outer looks (goodness knows, no one would've ever gotten married back in those days!). But Peter says God holds a woman's spirit to be worth more than her outward appearance. The women in Peter's day obviously knew this because he said that's what the women in that time focused on: their inner beauty.

When I get to heaven, I want Jesus to say to me, "Stand there and let me see how much you look like me."

That's Perfect

Lilly Faith is just over 3 weeks old now and she had her first session with my favorite photographer, Allison Muirhead, last week. When I look at Lilly Faith, I see perfection. However, there are some imperfect things about her. For instance, she has some "stork bites" on the nap of her neck under her hair and some "angel kisses" on her face (both of those are surface-based birth marks which fade over a year) and she has a hernia around her belly button. Even with all of that, I still see perfection.

I've noticed the word "perfect" is used 13 times in the book of Hebrews. Several times it refers to the Old Testament system of sacrifices that were not perfect. But when referring to what God did in Christ, He says it was "perfect". Hebrews 13:20-21 says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." What Christ did for us, brought us into perfect fellowship with the Father. Jesus' blood produced a perfect righteousness that enables us to stand before God free from sin consciousness. By faith in the blood of Jesus we enjoy perfect fellowship with the Father God and in His presence we have perfect peace that He will perfect what concerns us. He is working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight. His perfect will for your life will come to pass through faith in His blood. He is able to get you in the right place, at the right time, with the right people. You will have to give God thanks and say, "That's Perfect!"

This & That

As you can tell, I haven't been blogging during the week since Lilly Faith's arrival. I'm trying to spend alittle more time with my family and more time studying scripture. I will return to blogging regularly as I settle into a routine and go back to work later in the summer.

Confession time: ok, I gained 51 pounds during this pregnancy..the most I've ever gained with any of my children. To date, I've lost 31 pounds in 2 weeks. That's ALOT of water weight and only goes to prove just how much fluid I was retaining. Now I'm working on getting the other 20 off, some of which is still fluid. When I got home after delivery, I started walking the block and am up to walking one mile every day. Before I found out I was pregnant, I was training to run in my first 5K run in honor of my brother. Although I haven't been "cleared" by my doctor to exercise, I can't seem to sit still for very long.

I haven't really wanted to get out much in public. I still have the new mommy pooch on my stomach and I've been afraid of the comments I would get. If it weren't for my husband's insistence on getting out, I wouldn't have gone out to eat last Saturday night. We met some friends at a local Japanese restaurant and sat down for our orders to be taken. The chef went around to each of us and asked for our orders. When he looked at me, he said, "Oh, you're going to have a baby?" My worst fear came true: someone thought I was still pregnant! My husband quickly spoke up, "No, she HAD a baby one week ago. Here she is," pointing to little Lilly Faith fast asleep in the car seat beside us.

I've received many emails while I've been away for the last couple of weeks. Coincidentally, many of them want to know when I'm coming back to work! Just like this one:

Hey Barbie, We all can't wait for you to come back to work. Please hurry back! Sign, The Rushings

My emails have gone from "please get off the tv and go home" to "please hurry back"! Others are wondering how I'm going to be able to do it all.

Barbie, I enjoy watching your weather reports. I am curious about one thing. As much as you are on the news, seems like you don't have a lot of time with your family. I'm not being nosey.....just curious. Signed, Melissa

Now with 3 children under the age of 4 1/2, I've found my postpartum emotions faltering a bit. I have my moments of crying fits, second guessing myself, and wondering if its time for my retirement from WLBT. But with the lack of sleep, middle of the night feedings, sweet smiles and a few extra pounds left over, you couldn't pay me enough to swap places with anyone else on the planet.

Praise the Lord!

It hasn't even been a week since my brother Doug had his quintuple bypass and he's home! Over the weekend, he was promised to move from ICU to a private room, but that was delayed because there were no hospital rooms available. He spent Sunday in a private room and was discharged today. The cardiologists and nurses were amazed at his progress. Interestingly enough, most people experience a certain amount of pain associated with this type of surgery. Doug said he hasn't had much pain at all. He was expecting his leg to be sore where they harvested the veins for the bypass but he hasn't had any nor has his chest hurt him.

When I talked with him on the phone, I mentioned that not too many people get to see this type of healing here on earth; some have to wait until they get to heaven to see healing. I don't know why Doug has had this miracle, for the second time, but we're all grateful. Perhaps God has allowed Doug to experience this dramatic surgery and recovery so others could see his faith, our family's faith, or perhaps so others could see what prayer can do. Then again, maybe it's so Doug can get even healthier to do more witnessing to people. I don't know. But I do know that we are all missionaries for Christ. No matter our circumstances, no matter our health, or our economic status, God expects us to be a missionary for Him. If you call yourself "a Christian", you are automatically "a missionary"....all the while many of us will never leave this city, state or country.

What circumstance has God brought into your life that He is wanting you to share with others? What glory does He want you to give Him to those watching? What kind of witness are you leaving for others to see and hear? I think of 2 Corinthians 4:14-15, "He who rasied up the Lord Jesus will raise me up also with Jesus and bring me into His presence. For all things are for my sake, so that the more grace extends to more and more people and multiplies through the many, the more thanksgiving may increase to the glory of God."

And remember the nurse who gave my sister-in-law the bad news last week of how my brother would never make it, would need to get on disability because he would never be normal again, etc? Well, she apologized. She just hadn't witnessed a miracle before. If she only knew, this wasn't the first miracle, and most certainly won't be the last....