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"It Takes A Village®" Mug

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"It Takes A Village®" Mug

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You're a Great Mom Mug

You're a Great Mom Mug

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Life is Better Together

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Before my husband got ill I was a master at ‘Dolce Far Niente’ (the sweetness of doing nothing).
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It’s ingrained in the very fibers of my being, you see my father is from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, we’re pro’s at slowing down, and enjoying life. Now that our lives look completely different, taking the time has become really hard for me; between being the only one who can drive now, the multiple Dr.’s appointments a week, school drop-off's, and my work here in this space, our time is filled.

When you’re carrying the entire weight of your family on your shoulders it becomes almost impossible for you to allow yourself to be idle; as if being still will be the thing that brings your burdens crashing down on top of you.

The irony is, now life is the sweetest it has ever been, every moment is more precious, every holiday, every event, every day, every breath we take together is a beautiful gift that I don’t want to miss.

Being still, taking a break, relaxing, self care, whatever you want to call it, has become a practice I do purposefully and mindfully, because if I don’t consciously take the time to stop...I never will.

When life changes and becomes overwhelmingly hectic and hard, it’s easy to let it all pass you by, to let precious time come and go without notice, as if one day you can make up for all the time that you have lost. The truth is, life doesn’t work that way, it’s painfully short, there is never as much time as you think, and if you wait for “the time when...” you’ll miss moments that you can never get back.

Instead of letting the ebb and flow of life dictate what you have time for, MAKE the time instead. Take a moment to sip some tea, take five minutes to watch your children play, set your alarm and wake up before your household does, so you can have time to just listen to your own thoughts, look at the stars, marvel at this beautiful life you've been given... take it from me, you’ll regret it if you don’t.
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If you would like to continue this conversation with us, join our lovely private FB group, The Village Voice; you can find it by clicking the link in our stories. I sincerely hope to see you there.
#BringingBackTheVillage

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”
- Etty Hillesum
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It’s Sunday,
sit down,
read a book,
reflect,
take a deep breath,
close your eyes and enjoy the sweetness of doing nothing;
and most of all,
don’t feel guilty about it.

“You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” ~Paul Sweeney

One of my favorite things to do is curl up in bed at the end of the day and read a good book. Ever since I was young, reading has been a huge source of enjoyment for me, especially since I was an only child, getting lost in a good book was my idea of the perfect afternoon.
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I’ve dreamed of joining a book club ever since I saw “The Jane Austin Book Club” years ago, yet I never got the chance to join one, so I decided to start my own!
Introducing #TheVillageBookClub 🥳
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We have three books lined up to read over the next few months, all centered around finding Joy & Happiness right where you are. The link to signup is over at our private Facebook group ‘The Village Voice.’ Check out our stories for a clickable link.
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Right now I’m deep in the middle of Paulo Coehlo’s, “Aleph”, author of my all time favorite book “The Alchemist”; but I’m always looking to add more to my reading list, what are some of your favorites? I’d love to know!
#ItTakesAVillage #BringingBackTheVillage
📷 @annalaerophoto✨

"It happened again. My oldest asked why his skin is darker than his siblings. This time I wanted a better response that would stick with him in a way he’d understand.
It hit me when I noticed all his crayons spilled out on the table. He was making another comic, his new favorite thing to do. His artwork is impressive and a way he expresses himself.

So I told him to look at all the crayons he had out on the table. I asked him what would happen if they all were the same color. “That would be silly mama I couldn’t make what I wanted if all the colors were the same.” Bingo!!! I explained to him that God creates artwork in the way He creates people. And God needed every single color to do so. Every shade, every color in between is His artwork. I explained that his shade is just as beautiful as his siblings, and all his friends at school.

I told him not to focus on colors, because it’s what’s inside that matters. He’s a loving boy with a huge heart. He’s so intuitive, so compassionate.
In my head I thought of how there’s evil in this world that actually does fixate on color. I can not control that but dang it, I’ll try my best to remind all my kids that every color is beautiful, and that most importantly it’s what’s inside that counts. To treat others with kindness, and no judgement. To help others, and to speak up. “Well I’m glad God made me part of his artwork too, I like using every color when I’m drawing.” That’s right my sweet boy, God uses every color and wastes nothing❤️🌈" Written by @raisingthemartins
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Oh mama this one hit home for me, I remember asking my mother why my skin was different from hers at around his age. What a beautiful answer you gave, good job mama, good job 🙌🏾✨ 🌈. To share, tag your images #BringingBackTheVillage.

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