Spring in the South

Spring in the South is almost like a glimpse of heaven. About 3 years ago we purchased our property....beautiful 12 acres with a pond and a beautiful creek. I like to get out and walk the property for peace and serenity. There is nothing like sitting on the bank at the creek just listening to the water and wind as it speaks to you. Our wonderful creator speaks to us through His creations. When my spirit is troubled, I can go there and find my peace in any circumstance. I am truly blessed.


Reflections in our pond

As I was walking our property this afternoon, I came to my daughter's peach tree. She worked hard planting this tree last summer. She dug the hole, watered, and nurtured this little tree. It is still small, but she will be harvesting the fruits of her labor this year! There are several baby peaches already on her tree. How heart warming to see something your children nurtured producing fruit.

This is one way God shows us about reaping what we sow. We reap our harvest of our labors such as the peaches on the tree, but we also reap the consequences of our thoughts and actions.  When someone wrongs you, you have a choice in the reaction you will have. You have a choice to forgive them or seek vengeance on them. What will you choose? Unforgiveness leads to a heart filled with bitterness and bitterness can lead to many health issues. You can be the most health conscious person, eating right, working out, etc...but if you allow the root of bitterness to take root in your heart, it can eat you alive and cause health problems and unhappiness. Forgive to be forgiven. Release the hurt feelings and replace them with love. Bless those who curse you...you will be blessed from this! We take care of our physical bodies, now let's include our emotional and spiritual bodies.

We have to have a balance in our lives. We are made of 3 parts...body, mind, and spirit. These 3 need to have a unity, a balance to function properly. We feed our physical bodies when they are hungry...do you feed your spiritual and emotional parts?
"How do you do this"; you might ask. Well, meditating daily on the Scriptures will feed your spiritual side but what about the mind? How do you feed your mind? As we feed our spiritual and physical bodies we nurture our minds, we make great connections with people who encourage us, we absorb things like a sponge. If we are continuously around negativity we, too, can become negative. Our minds are like computers, in a sense, if we put junk in we get junk out. What we feed our minds becomes apparent to others through our actions and words. We will bear fruit just as the fruit trees do.
This picture says a lot when it says "To Produce The Fruit, Nurture the Root". We have to have a foundation, water, and nutrition just as these trees do. Ground yourself...nurture your roots...feed the proper nutrition physically, emotionally, and spiritually!

Dixie Naturals can help with the physical nutrition by offering all natural and organic products. And as you enjoy this heavenly spring and start to reap the fruits of your harvest...add some flavor to them with our seasonings and dips. We also have supplements to boost your immune system and brain power. :)

Stop by our online store today! http://www.watkinsonline.com/rsanders
Blessings,
Regina

Food, Farming, and Health

Good Thursday afternoon. Praying this day finds you all doing well. One of the great things with Watkins products is that they are all natural and many organic. Why should we be lookin at all natural and organic? Well, let's see what Jesse Richardson of Organic Soul.com has to say about this:


Organic - Food, Farming and Health from Earthbound Farm on Vimeo.

See the rest of this post here: http://www.organicsoul.com/food-farming-and-health/.

Dixie Naturals- Watkins, Inc has many organic and all natural products such as:

  This is just a few of our many organic and all natural spices, dips, and seasonings. Stop by our online store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/rsanders.

Have a GREAT weekend!
Blessings,
Regina

Are You Thinking of Starting a Home Business?

Good morning. I couldn't sleep last night. I'm not sure why, but it was just in the air and I was up. This wasn't necessarily a good thing since I still had to be at work at 8am this morning. I cam home, took a long nap...and yes, the cycle starts over.  I have always been a night person living in a day person's world.
  This is me, except instead of sitting in front of the TV, I am in front of the computer. The house is quiet as everyone else is asleep. Here I sit with my computer and coffee, knowing I will regret this in a few hours.  While I am up, I might as well make the best of it.

Have you had a passing thought of starting up a home business?  What is holding you back? Finances? Fear? Both? Don't allow these things to stop your dreams. I did for years, but finally about a year ago, I decided if I wanted different results I had to make a change!  If we do the same thing over and over the result will always be the same. What did I do? I faced those fears. I started by researching many different business opportunities. Did I want to start one from the ground up or did I want to buy into one where I would have support? Would I consider a MLM kind of business? Can you really succeed with them? If so, what kind? There are so many.  These are the kinds of questions that came flooding my mind as I researched many businesses of all shapes and sizes and different markets. These were questions I had to ask myself and the only things I knew for certain were that I wanted my circumstances to change and I wanted to be able to help people in some kind of way. It is my nature to want to help people, it is how I am created and it is where I find joy in life. I don't find joy in others having needs, but if I can help them meet those needs, I find joy. I have been blessed to be able to do that in many areas of my life, my home business included.

I encourage you now to DREAM BIG! Don't ever let any one tell you that you won't succeed. You absolutely can! It doesn't have to cost hundreds of dollars to start a business [although you will probably have to make some kind of investment.] You can start one today and be successful at it with faith, hard work, ambition, and diligence. If you are reading this now, then, I believe this is something you have been considering. I will help you in any way I can. If you want to sign on to my business, then great...if not, guess what...I still will help you! I want you to be successful and see your dreams become a reality!


Contact me today via email at rms29105@pbtcomm.net, link with me here by clicking follow, follow me on Facebook.  I look forward to connecting with you!

Blessings,
Regina

April is Autism Awareness Month

What are the symptoms of autism?

The main signs and symptoms of autism involve problems in the following areas:

• Communication - both verbal (spoken) and non-verbal (unspoken, such as pointing, eye contact, and smiling)
• Social - such as sharing emotions, understanding how others think and feel, and holding a conversation
• Routines or repetitive behaviors (also called stereotyped behaviors) - such as repeating words or actions, obsessively following routines or schedules, and playing in repetitive ways

The symptoms of autism can usually be observed by 18 months of age.  There are many possible red flags for autism - behaviors that may be signs or symptoms of autism.  Some features may mean a delay in one or more areas of development, while others may be more typical of autism spectrum disorders.  If you think your child shows red flags for autism, talk to your health care provider.
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/asd.cfm

Would you recognize autism if you saw it? Chances are, you have seen it, no you didn't recognize. Too often, we judge the parents and the child too quickly. We feel their behavior isn't up to our standards...and sometimes people will make comments like, "If that were my child I would.....". Don't ever say that, because that isn't your child and honestly, you don't know what you would do until you walk that mile in their shoes.  Also, remember this....People with Autism Spectrum Disorder are PERFECT just the way they are because GOD created them like this and He makes NO mistakes!

Please take a moment to watch the video below and share it with your family and friends.

Now that you have watched this, won't you take the time to share it with your family and friends?
Blessings,
Regina

Life is like Coffee Movie

A facebook friend of mine shared this video clip in a group we are both a part of. This goes so well with my last post that I felt I jus had to share this with you all. May you be blessed by it and please feel free to share it with your friends! Life is like Coffee Movie: "Do you know people that just seem to be happier in general? Do you say to yourself, "I want to be more like them"? Often, the happiest people in the world don’t have the best of everything...they just make the best of everything!" We can all make the best of everything...including the trials we walk through daily. When life is hard...count your blessings.

My Life is Richer

I started my business with the same dreams and ambitions as everyone else. Do I want to be rich with materialism? No, that's not what I am talking about. Of course, I want to make money...but I don't have to have money and BMWs to be happy. How then can I say that my life is richer?

My life is richer because through searching for a business to start I created new friendships, since starting my business, I have added many new friendships. I may not have ever seen these people face to face...just through pictures on a computer screen; but the friendship, the love, and the kindness shines through that computer screen each day. You encourage me when I am overwhelmed and feel like giving up, you offer to help me when I need it, and you share a part of your life with me.

Your friendships have helped mold me into a better wife, mother, and entrepreneur! I pray that I shine some light back into your lives. I do not want to be only a taker...but a giver. I do believe Charity [LOVE] is the FOUNDATION of the world! I want my foundation to be firmly planted in enriching the lives of others in one way or another.


Thank you for enriching my life and teaching me so much. Thank you for your encouragement and help; but mostly for your kindness and friendship. May the Lord Bless you and Keep you!

Blessings,
Regina

The Ultimate Blog Challenge

2011 started off as a year of new beginnings for me. I have started doing many things for the first time. One of those new beginning was starting my home business, Dixie Naturals. I absolutely love my new business. What in the world would make me choose to start a business now? I mean, the economy isn't the best in the world...if anything it is rather bleak...so why now? I knew my life needed a change. I talked with my husband about it all. Our conversation went something like this:

ME: "Something is missing, not right here. We have been doing the same thing year after year for the last 19 years and the results are still the same."

HIM: "What do you mean?"

          ME: "I mean, I am tired of the same ol' same ol'. We get up every morning, go to work. We spend long hours there away from our children, then we come home, eat dinner and get ready to do it all over again. As long as we are doing the same thing with no change, we will have the same results...and what are we gaining from these results? I want to start a business!"

  HIM: "OK. What kind of business?"

This one conversation started my research!  The possibilities are limitless! There is so much to choose from! I researched many different businesses for about a year. Finally, I found my match. I chose to go with a company which has a long history of producing and selling natural products. The start up costs were very workable with my budget and I have a wonderful team of people at my fingertips when I need help.

OK. So now I have a business. How do I market my business? How do I generate customers and team members? I make connections with people who have already ventured down this road and are willing to help newbies like me along the way. One of these fabulous people is Michele Scism of Decisive Minds, LLC.

Michele's purpose is one of the things that drew me to her work. "Besides my family I have one passion in life and that is to help other entrepreneurial women achieve the success in business that they deserve!"; taken from her website. I made a connection with Michele. Her heart and mine seem very similar in desiring to help others! It is through this connection with her that I learned of April's Ultimate Blog Challenge! It is my desire, through this challenge, to improve my blogging skills. Blogging is one avenue I chose to take to market my business. This is another of the "new beginnings" for me this year! They always say, "Practice makes perfect!", what better way to practice than through a challenge like this!

 You are never too old to learn. I believe that when you stop learning, you stop living! So, let's take this challenge, create new friendships, and learn together!

Blessings,
Regina