Selah

I continue to muddle along. 

After I had Sweetpea there was a feeling of renewal; of starting over. 

I thought perhaps after bringing home Bouncy I might have a similar feeling. 

Instead I feel overwhelmed pretty much on a daily basis.  I can't keep up with everything...at least not to my own satisfaction. 

I would like very much to be like the newest feline member of our family, Rosie, (that's her above) and be able to chase a bit of fluff and feel absolutely content.

I keep reading things about finding my joy and strength in Jesus Christ by keeping myself utterly focused on Him.  I get it.  I've had times in my life when I've done that.  I have verses hidden in my heart to help me with that.

You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.

 Because his mind is stayed on You.

Isaiah 26:3

Be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 46:10

I am trying to do that now.  But (you knew the 'but' was coming right?), I am having a hard time. 

I'm exhausted for one thing...constant intense parenting will do that to you.  And when you adopt...you sign on for constant intense parenting.  And not just your adopted child.  Our bio kids need extra parenting too. 

If I weren't able to remind myself that this is all God's plan.  If He had not blessed me recently with seeing what the adoption road looks like nine months down the road I think I would huddle in my bathtub in a puddle of tears. 

I am so grateful that He has allowed me to see what things look like as time goes on.

I am so grateful for promises like this.

The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Selah

Psalm 46:11

Selah

Where Have I Been?

A view from our veranda.

Where have I been?  I finally return to blogging, blog twice and then disappear again!

Well, I've been on the other side of the planet...literally, I've been on the other side of the planet. 

On October 28th my husband and I boarded a British Airways flight and began a 10,000 mile journey to Ug@nda, Afric@.  Twenty-eight hours later we landed and began a 6 week odyssey to obtain legal guardianship of our third child, a little girl.  She is officially eight years old and I will call her Bouncy here in my blog. 

Right now I am not ready to delve into a lot of the details of our trip.  It really does take a while to process all that I've seen and experienced.  We were in a totally different world from our everyday world.  We were challenged in ways we had never been challenged before.  We grew in ways we never knew we could or would.  And now we have a precious little girl that has joined our family.  And we are being challenged in all kinds of new ways!

As time goes on I hope to share some of what we experienced and some of the things God is teaching us in this new world of adoption.  Truly I never thought it would be something that we would do but God had other plans.  Adoption is what He does everyday with each of us and now He is letting us in on that, and showing us His heart.

Well, I really am here today just to check in.  I hope and pray each of you are enjoying your Christmas and looking forward to the New Year ahead!

Ordinariness

~The true test of a person's spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exiting happening.  ~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Ordinariness is where life is lived. It is the day to day of life. It is the getting up each morning, doing one's loving duty and the sweetness of the evening with those we love. 

There are always events in life in which one's character is revealed.  We (I) often think that it's the big events of life that test our (my) character, but I think maybe not always.  Might it be that the true testing is in the day to day of life?  In the ordinary times?

An event, good or bad, may be the beginning of a time of trial and testing, but I think that it's not the event that is the test.

Paul says in Romans 5:3-5, "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

In my own walk with the Lord it has been the day to day of life after an "event" where I am tested.  Can I still get up in the morning?  Can I still make the bed?  Can I still do the laundry, the dishes, prepare meals, teach my children, love my husband, clean the bathroom, vacuum the floor, do the grocery shopping, teach my children and love my husband?

It is in the ordinariness of life that I lean on Jesus because I have learned that in my own strength I can not carry on.  In the ordinariness of life I learn that God is to be trusted and that His burden is light.  In the ordinariness of life I learn to walk with God. 

And in the ordinariness of life God transforms me (Romans 12:2).

Oswald Chambers says in My Utmost for His Highest (October 12th),  [God] has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways.   It was said of Jesus - "He will not fail nor be discouraged..." (Isaiah 42:4) because He never worked from His own individual standpoint, but always worked from the standpoint of His Father.  And we must learn to do the same.  Spiritual truth is learned through the atmosphere that surrounds us, not through intellectual reasoning.  It is God's Spirit that changes the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and then things begin to be possible which before were impossible."

It is in the day to day things of life that God begins and continues to work in me through His Holy Spirit, changing the atmosphere of my heart and mind, renewing and transforming me.  Changing my "me" centeredness to Him centeredness.  Changing my dependence on myself to dependence on Him, ultimately leading me to hope in Him, joy in spite of circumstances and a peace that passes understanding.

Happy New Year and The Holiday Travel Hangover

Hello everyone!

I'm back...and boy what a Christmas and New Year's we had. We traveled....a. lot. I think that it's quite possible that if we had driven in a strait line we would have driven at least halfway across the United States. Yes...that's how much traveling we did.

And we never left that state we live in...now that's not really saying much as we do live in one of the larger states in the Union. But it did make us decide this was the absolutely last year we are doing this.

Traveling, I mean.

We've been married for eighteen years and for those eighteen years we have lived at least five hours and more away from our immediate families. And for eighteen years we have packed ourselves and our gifts up and traveled to see family.

Now don't get me wrong. We love our family. But friends...I would dearly love to stay home for Christmas. Home. The place where I live. Because after eighteen years home isn't where I or my husband grew up.

I could get all sentimental right now about never being able to go home again, or about home being where the heart is, or home being where my husband and kids are. But this is not a Hallmark moment I'm having. I just don't want to travel that much during the holidays anymore.

And sleep in a variety of beds.

And eat at weird hours.

And eat rich food (which tastes really good but doesn't always settle well).

And go to bed too late.

And get up too early.

Because at forty-three...the recovery time is...errr...shall we say a lot slower than it was at twenty-five.

But having said all that we did have a wonderful time with our families, and were blessed in a myriad of ways, not just with presents. I hope to write a little more about that in the next couple of days...I'm still just letting my thoughts and feelings about our Christmas gel a little before I write about them. God showed me some really neat things this year and I'm still thinking on them and processing them in my heart and mind.

So anyway...Hello again! It's good to be back and I hope everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Day!

Just Writing To Say Hello!!!

Hello Everyone!

I'm hailing to you from somewhere in the lower 48 but for security reasons I can't tell you where! ;)
Specifically we are at my parents where my husband is at this very moment enjoying Monday Night Football in 52" HDTV.

Yeah...he's a happy man.

I can't quite get my thoughts together enough to really write something pithy right now, but maybe that will happen later on this week...maybe...

Right now my parents under stairway closet is calling my name, because somewhere in there are numerous vintage sewing patterns and crochet magazines. I hate to think of them as "vintage" because that would make me somewhat "vintage" as I remember when they were all new. Of course I was only a kid when they were new...still....

Anyway, as you can tell, I can't quite finish a thought and I think I better go answer the siren's call. Hope you are all having a great week!

P.S. I'll try to post some pictures of what I find this week...if not this week then next week when I get home to my own computer!

It's Not A Lot, But It's My Life

There are so many inspirational blogs out there. Just look at my blog-list and you will see some of the blogs that inspire me. They are blogs about home keeping, child-rearing and walking with the Lord. I love them all. They all are encouraging to me. Sometimes they are sad, sometimes funny and sometimes just, you know, everyday. I love that too. Because sometimes there is really nothing all that exciting to share about life.

You get up, get dressed, take care of what ever your day holds, and go to bed. That may be an over simplification, but you know what I mean.

And I love reading about it. Because there is joy to be found in the everyday things of life. Because that is mostly what life is made of. The everyday.

I mean, let's face it. Cleaning out a chicken coop isn't exactly earth shattering. Stinky maybe, but not earth shattering. Yet that was a part of my otherwise completely ordinary day yesterday. And I loved it.

In it's own way it was fun. Not the kind of fun I imagined when I was sixteen and seventeen years old, but fun in finding out our chickens were stealth. Fun in figuring out how to thwart their egg-hiding efforts. Fun watching them get excited about the new layer of straw we put down in their coop.

Taking joy in the everyday things of life can be hard sometimes, especially if you find yourself yearning for something more seemingly vibrant and exciting. But I have found that when I stopped looking over the fence at my neighbors lawn, or life, or whatever, I am much more content with my own life. Comparing my life to someone elses gets me no-where but depressed.

Jesus had an answer for this sort of thing. This comparing we do. In John 21:21 Peter asks Jesus about the future of John's (the disciple whom Jesus loved) life. Jesus says to Peter in verse 22, "...what is that to you? You follow Me." I just need to do what God has put before me. I don't need to be worrying about or comparing myself to anyone else.

And therein lies the secret to contentment and, dare I say, happiness.

So to quote a famous ant, "It's our lot in life...it's not a lot, but it's our life!"

I Wasn't Kidding!

She looks innocent enough doesn't she? A sweet faced lab with a penchant for cat food and chicken feed, tomatoes and pears. I wasn't joking when I told you she emptied the contents of her stomach on my carpet last night. She really did. And it was all chicken feed that she had snuck into the chicken yard and eaten right out the chicken's feeder while we were at Son's pizza party for his soccer team. When we arrived home from the party and went to lock up the chickens it was already dark (we still haven't gotten used to the time change yet). We hadn't locked up the chickens before we left and I was a little alarmed when we approached their pen and the gate was ajar. I stopped Daughter from going in and went in ahead of her, worried I might find a dead chicken. Thankfully all five biddies were safely snuggled up on their perch in the hen house. Apparently, they themselves are not what my dear sweet puppy were after....no....just their feed.

The problem is, she is one of these dogs with a sensitive stomach. We found this out last Christmas after an episode of throwing up and diarrhea. She's only aloud 3 cups of her own lamb and rice food a day. Apparently she doesn't feel that that's enough.

Little thief.

Anyway, my carpet is mostly recovered. I need to go over the spots one more time and I think that will do it. We are now carefully locking the chicken gate with an extra carabeaner so hopefully there will be no more episodes like last night.

The weather here has done a rather abrupt change...my kids seem surprised by it, but after living where we do for 17 years now I've learned to expect the unexpected. Last week we had a few afternoons in the upper 70's and lower 80's. Today....it is snowing!

Daughter, who earlier was complaining because it was cloudy and gloomy, is now thrilled with the weather and doesn't want the snow to stop. And I must admit that it's a wonder how the same grey skies that gave us rain early this morning suddenly didn't seem so gloomy when the rain turned to snow.

There is a certain odd beauty in snow on a still somewhat leafy tree. And it has made things in the house seem a lot more cozy.

Light On A Dark Day

Today it is overcast and is threatening to rain. We've had a little rain already and we are hoping for more because it has been so very dry here all summer and fall. In spite of the dryness we've enjoyed a beautiful display of God's handiwork with color. I love to take walks this time of year. We go to our local park, pick one of it's many walking trails, enjoy the beauty of the trees, the spicy smell of the woods and pick up acorns along our way.

It would seem that there could be nothing to mar such a beautiful season. However, in my humble estimation, there is just one thing that does. Just one day. I refuse to call it a holiday because there is nothing holy about it. It does not glorify God or honor Him for His handiwork. It is in fact extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find anything redeemable about this day.

If you haven't surmised what day I'm speaking of let me just say, it is halloween.

I do not like this day. I loath to see small children dressed up like axe murders, Dracula with fake blood dripping from the corners of their mouths and ghoulish, ugly creatures. Yes, I know, not all children dress this way but all the same there are enough who do.

In our small town the local elementary schools make a BIG deal out of this day. There are activities and lessons in the morning centered around the themes of halloween. There is a parade in which all the children walk through the downtown area with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles watching and cheering. And then to top it off they return to their classrooms for candy, cupcakes and juice boxes. Oh, and the children wear their costumes all day at school.

That is just in the schools.

Then there is the house decorating. One home in particular in our town is an advertisement for every yard decoration that's been thought of. The home itself is a beautiful white, two-story home with a wrap around porch, surrounded by lovely grassy lawns and a graceful curving gravel driveway. On Halloween it is turned into a mock graveyard complete with skeletons rising from the earth. From one of it's tall stately trees hangs a life size manikin in a noose. In two of it's large windows, well lit from behind, stand manikins of a vampire and some other scary guy. Greeting trick-or-treaters at the door is a tunnel with the grim reaper at the end. There are other blow up things on and around the house as well. In fact there is so much stuff I couldn't possibly hope to give you full inventory even if I wanted to. In short, its disgusting.

With all the "everyday"evil in the world, you know like, terrorism, murder, abortion, molestations, etc., why do people want to celebrate it? And don't tell me it's "just a fun" day. There may be "innocent" fun aspects of it but it's roots are not. If you talk to law enforcement, firemen and emergency room workers there is very little that's fun about it.

So how does a Christian deal with this day? How have I and my family chosen to deal with this day? Well, we try to be lights. We don't decorate for it but we do pass out candy with some sort of Christian tract or sticker. We try to take opportunities to talk to people about the Light of the world, Jesus. We try to shine as brightly as we can...and on this dark day that is getting darker the light of Jesus is all the brighter.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." ~John 8:12

Perseverance

Someone once said to me, in regards to walking with the Lord, that you know you must be headed in the right direction if you are getting opposition from the Enemy.

Well, I would say that in the last year and a half or so we have definitely been getting some opposition. There have been slings and arrows wielded in our direction which we have not always handled the way we ought to have. But the thing with testing and trials is that they are meant to grow us and conform us to the image of Christ.

This morning I was reading through my journal and came to this entry. I felt led to share it here and I hope it will be a benefit and/or blessing to you.

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and, let us run with patience the race that is set before us. ~Hebrews 12:1

The weight that I must lay aside is that of working for acceptance, working for points, working to earn favor with God, working with the thought in the back of my mind that if I'm good enough God will owe me a peaceful, perfect, prosperous life here on earth. And in that lies the sin, the sin of pride, pride that I can in some way do enough or be good enough to tip the scales in my favor.

And when this sad, pathetic formula doesn't work, I move on to my next sin, murmuring and complaining and unbelief. I am no better than the Israelites in the wilderness. It's a wonder that God doesn't just open the earth and swallow me up. It's what I deserve.

This all leads to doubt and despondency. I doubt God is ever going to change things. I fret that he is done with Husband and me. I lose hope. More sin.

This quote from Streams In The Desert has opened my eyes to the spiritual warfare I am, we are encountering:

"The devil has two master tricks. One is to get us discouraged; then for a time at least we can be of no service to others, and so be defeated. The other is to make us doubt, thus breaking the faith link by which we are bound to our Father. Look out! Do not be tricked either way." -G.E.M.

Praise God for His mercy and grace and forgiveness. I am not swallowed up by the earth, I am forgiven.

Praise God for His Holy Spirit who gives me the strength, hope and will power not to succumb to discouragement, despondency and doubt.

Praise God for His Word that gives me truth to cling to when the Enemy is whispering his treacherous lies in my ear.

This season of trial will pass. My prayer is that I will count it all joy, that I will walk closer with Jesus, my Lord, that it's lessons will someday help someone else and that my trust in Him will be ever deeper.

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our heart by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." ~Romans 5:3-5

Some Simple Thoughts

I think that this little meme is normally to be done on Mondays. But I was about 400 miles away from my computer on Monday so…well…anyway…I needed something to spur on my thinking and I’m doing it today…



FOR TODAY Thursday, October 16th...

Outside My Window...
…it is dark right now. But the trees are beginning to turn to shades of gold and there is a crispness in the air that makes me think of apples and cinnamon.

I am thinking...
…that there is a lot I’m thinking about these days. More than I can possibly put into words. I think that there is a stage in life when you look all around you and things and people are changing. Children are getting older, parents are getting older, suddenly you realize you aren’t as young as you used to be. This causes me to reflect a lot. What is next in my life? Am I doing a good job raising my children? How can I be a help to my parents?

I am thankful for...
…the fact that I don’t have figure all this out on my own. I have my husband who God has gifted with steadiness and clear thinking. I have my Lord who will guide and direct us both.

From the kitchen...
…ummm, not much too exciting lately. I did make an apple crisp last week. The weather is prompting me to make lots of soups, stews and chili lately. I hope my family doesn’t get tired of them!

I am wearing...
...my yoga pants (can I just say I love these things…they are so comfortable…and I don’t even do yoga!), a t-shirt, a fleece sweatshirt and some socks. Yep. You could definitely call me comfy.

I am creating...
…ideas lately. I hope to be making some Christmas gifts soon.

I am going...
…to hopefully stay home for awhile, at least until Thanksgiving.

I am reading...
…James Herriott’s The Lord God Made Them All. Again. For like the umpteenth time. I first read this series in the ‘80’s when I worked the swing shift as a PBX (switchboard) operator at a hospital.

I am hoping...
…that we will be able finish painting our house before it gets too cold.

I am hearing...
…Jon Courson doing his Wednesday night teaching on-line at KAPL. He is going through Proverbs.

Around the house...
…things are pretty snug for the winter. We have been lighting a fire in the wood stove in the morning to take the chill off.

One of my favorite things...
…is sitting by the woodstove in the morning and doing my devotions and having my coffee. So cozy, such a special time for me.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week…
…mainly to get our schooling caught up and make a batch of stewed tomatoes.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

...it makes me think of warm family times to come this holiday season and reminds me to be thankful.

As The Chicken Turns

When we last left our lovely flock two new chickens had joined. One was learning the meaning of pecking order and the other was enjoying immediate acceptance. Apparently there was more going on than just mistaken identity.

You see we thought the reason the others accepted the new Barred Rock was because they thought it was the missing bird that Chewy, our dog, had sent off to poultry heaven. Now we're thinking that it may be because she is really a he.

What do you think? Believe me it was no easy trick getting this picture. However, please note the large crest and floppier waddle than his more feminine kin.

He can certainly give you quite the evil eye but he seems to be a really rather docile bird. He has yet to crow but I'm worried it might happen any morning now.

We do have a contingency plan in place for him to go back to his original farm and trade him for a her. I'm putting it off it until we know absolutely, positively for sure though because Daughter gets so attached to all of the birds. She gets big sad eyes whenever I say we will have to relocate "Joseph" aka Josephine to his farm.

Boy am I a soft touch.

But really. We can't keep a rooster here in town. We value our good neighbors.

So what do you think? Have I got a rooster or a hen here? "Joseph" is the bird on the far right. Doesn't his comb look a.lot. bigger than his hen friend standing next to him?

Cockadoodledoo!

As if chickens weren't enough....

...we bought a pig.

(Okay, I'll let that sink in for a minute.)

Well, we actually bought half a pig.

(I'll let you cogitate on that a moment.)

Alright...let me do some 'splainin.

We went in with another family on a weaner (as in a baby pig that has just been weaned...it has nothing to do with what it might become later) which they are housing. We are helping pay for the feed (they're doing the feeding), and in the fall my husband (not I) will help with the butchering.

For an investment of about $50 or $60 we should end up with about 125 pounds of meat. We will still have to pay the local butcher to smoke some ham and bacon but I'm pretty certain it will still be A LOT less than we would pay for all that meat at the grocer's.

So why would we buy a pig? Well I had to think about that for awhile myself. I am not a big pork eater. However, when an opportunity presents itself for inexpensive food, sometimes you have to take it.

With prices on nearly everything taking such incredible leaps I'm looking for all kinds of ways to save money. Raising our own food seems like a no brainer. In the past what that meant for me was growing a garden. And this year we do have two tomato plants and two struggling squash plants (I think we will be lucky to get anything off of them) but we are already making plans for a much larger and more productive garden next year. And we are now raising animals.

Honestly we are doing more than just planning a garden and raising chickens and a pig, we are rethinking our lifestyle.

It's very easy to go to the grocery store with a list of things I need and pluck them off a shelf , put them in a cart and pay for them. It's somewhat harder to dig around in the dirt...er...soil, make sure everything gets water, isn't eaten by a bug, harvest the produce and find a way to store it for future months (ie. can, freeze or dry it). However, I think it is more satisfying and much less expensive to do so.

The same goes for the pig and the chickens. (Besides that the chickens add a lot of entertainment value.)

Some friends of mine and I have also begun looking at the things we buy out of convenience that we could be making ourselves at home. Soaps and cleaning products have become our target. We are a little bit surprised to find that they are easy to make and much less expensive. Did you know that you can make your own laundry detergent that cleans your clothes just as well as the name brand products for a fraction of the cost? Check it out here at The Family Homestead.

I like the thought that I can stretch our ever shrinking dollar by learning how to make some things myself and also by growing some of our own food. I also think that in many ways it is much more wholesome. I like knowing where my food is coming from and how it has been raised.

I know I've seen this question asked on other blogs but I'm going to go ahead and ask it again. What kinds of things are you doing to stretch your dollar (or pound for my friends across the pond)? Are you making lifestyle changes? Have you bought a pig?

By the way, the picture of the chicken at the beginning of the post is one of our newest editions. Her name is Nellie.

Oh, by the way, did I mention I was on vacation?....

I have not dissapeared.

I am sort of on vacation. Meaning I am away from home and my regular computer.

I'm visiting my sister and we have been busy learning how to draft our own skirt patterns and then make them. So far so good! I'll post the results when I get home.

Last night we went out for Chinese food and tonight we're going to see Kung Fu Panda. We're "theme-ish" that way.

For a good laugh today check out this. Warning: lots of cuteness and laugh-out-loudness. We've been doing a lot of that here.

WFMW - The "Mom I'm Bored" Edition

It's Wednesday again and time for another edition of WFMW. Shannon, our venerable host at Rocks In My Dryer has given a theme this week. It is the "Mom, I'm Bored" Edition and she has asked that we share ideas and tips for keeping the kiddos busy this Summer.

Well, I thought about that and I thought about what we were doing. If you have visited me before you may know that we are homeschoolers. (I don't blog about it much because I don't consider myself much of a fount of knowledge in that arena, I usually am busy gleaning ideas from other folks.) I'm discovering that this is much more of a lifestyle than I ever dreamed it would be and that while formal learning (as in books and worksheets) may be suspended for the summer, learning never actually stops. Also there is a lot of learning that goes on that will never come out of book. Learning that develops character.

Romans 5:3&4 say, "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope."

Work will often produce tribulation, which leads to perseverence, which leads to character. So my idea for this summer is to put my kids to work.

Now before you start thinking that my kids are some sort of twenty-first century Oliver Twists or something, let me assure you that I plan on letting them have plenty of fun too. In fact I hope that they find at least some of the work they do, fun.

So here are some of the work like activities they will be doing:

#1 - There are the chickens, The Girls, as they are sometimes called. They will need daily feeding and water changing. They will need to be let out of their coop every morning and have their saw dust freshened regularly. That will be Daughter's job. Before that the coop needs to be built. Son will be helping with that.

#2 - There is the wood pile. Husband regularly brings home small loads of firewood which the kids help him unload and which Son is responsible to stack.

#3 - There are the gardens, both vegetable and flower. When it finally stops raining here Daughter will be responsible to help water them. She will also have the privelage of helping to harvest them as well. She has already told me that she is looking forward to that! :)

#4 - Are all the regular daily chores they are expected to do like making their beds, keeping their rooms picked up, folding and putting away laundry and cleaning up after themselves when they are finished with a meal. Son will probably also have days in which he will be responsible for getting lunch on the table as I have several projects I hope to be working on.

#5 - And this is really more of a treat for them than work, they are keeping a reading log. All it is is a simple list of the books they complete and the number of pagers read. They are both natural readers so I rarely if ever have to coax them to do this.

#6 - And this really is the fun stuff...Son will spend a week at church camp (definately NOT work for him) and Daughter will take swim lessons and keep up with her piano lessons (oh yes, and a week of Vacation Bible School for her too).

So there you have it. That is how I'm keeping my kiddos busy this summer. And hopefully building their character in having them learn some new skills, faithfully completing their work and hopefully do their best.

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men... ~Colossians 3:23

For more (fun!) ideas about how to keep your kiddos busy this summer head on over to Rocks In Your Dryer.

Enough-ness

One's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. ~Luke 12:15


'Tis the garage sale-ing season and I like to participate in both ends of the deal making...that is I like to go out and hunt down that treasure as much as I like to sell my old stuff and make a little money. I need to qualify my last statement, though, by saying that I'm not one of those die-hard garage salers who are out there every Saturday at the crack of dawn. Really, I only go a couple of times a season and I've learned to go with a mission in mind.


This coming Saturday I am having my own garage sale with a dear friend and neighbor. As I'm preparing for this sale I am being ruthless (or at least trying to be) in cleaning out, purging, getting rid of stuff. I have a couple of questions I ask myself about my stuff.

1. (and this is one that you always see in magazines) Have I used this in the last 6 months to a year? I mean if it's been in storage for that long and I haven't had a need for it, do I really think I'm going to need it in the future?

2. Do I have more than one of this item or do I have a similar item I like better? I mean really, how many cheese graters do you need? Just one, to use when you grate the cheese.

3. Why am I holding on to this item? Is it sentimental? Is it a collectible and I think that I would really post it on ebay? Will I really repair it (if it needs repair)? Sometimes I hold on to things because of the person who gave it to me or because a similar item was appraised highly on The Antiques Roadshow. The trouble is I never look at it and it's just taking up space...in a box...in a garage...with limited storage. And if it's been in my garage for any length of time and still hasn't been repaired then chances are it will never be repaired. At least by me anyway.

These can be awfully hard questions to answer. Our culture does measure our success and value too frequently by the kind of and amount of things we own. We accumulate to show how well we are doing or for memory-sake. But in the end...it's just stuff...and you can't take it with you.


For example: Husband and I were in the garage yesterday pulling out a few things when we came across his Mom's old wooden tennis rackets. I'm not really sure how we ended up with them but they are rather nostalgic looking in their wooden brackets.


"Do you want to keep these?" I asked gently. Knowing that they may have some sentimental value to my husband. He pondered them for a few minutes, I'm sure running through some memories.


"If you want to keep them I'm sure I could think of some kind of nice way to display them for you..."


Finally he said, "No, I don't have any real use for them, I don't want them displayed, they are just taking up space out here and I can't take them with me."


Then there is the concept of enoughness. Recently in Our Daily Bread there was a story about author Calvin Trillin's wife, Alice, who believed that... " 'after a certain level of income, the government would simply take everything.' She thought there should be a limit on how much money people were allowed to keep for themselves. Writing in the The New Yorker, Trillin said of his wife, 'She believed in the priciple of enoughness.' "


While I don't hold with Alice Trillin's particular brand of enoughness I do understand what she is getting at. We mostly don't need all that we have.


So the biggest question I ask myself as I purge or as I go garage sale-ing is this:


4. Do I really need it? Whatever it is. Sometimes the need for an item is because of its usefulness, like a bookshelf. Sometimes the need is emotional, like the pair of soup bowls I bought once because they reminded me of my Grandmother. Sometimes the need is decorative, as in I'm going through a decorative phase that I know is a phase and I don't want to spend a lot of money on it or be emotionally attached to it (thus making it easier to get rid of later).

So there is the concept that my husband holds to of not being able to take it with you and there is the concept of enoughness. Both worthy of my consideration as I both buy and sell.

Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. ~1Timothy 6:8


Oh, and by the way, here's another use for your cheese grater. Ever get melty cheese stuck to the bristles of your dish cleaner brush? Put a little dish soap on the brush and run it over your cheese grater under hot water. The cheese comes right off the bristles!


For more Works For Me Wednesday tips head on over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Everydayness

It has been awhile since I've felt I had anything worthwhile to add to the list at Works For Me Wednesday. However, recently I have been meditating on and trying to put into practice the concept of everydayness and I thought I would share it with you.


What's everydayness? Well for me it is doing some of the basic things we all must do every day. They are things that don't necessarily have to be done every day but are a lot less daunting if they are done every day. If you are any sort of procrastinator you will likely understand what I'm talking about. Or if you have ever, in your entire life, put off doing something, you will understand what I'm talking about. It's that moment when you are wading through the MOUNTAIN of laundry when you realize that if you had only done a little everyday it wouldn't be taking you ALL day to do it.


As a habitual procrastinator this is a big concept for me to get my head wrapped around and lately I've been heard to go around mumbling, "Everydayness, just do a little everyday." as a way to remind myself that it's a lot easier that way.


The following are a few areas I am currently or planning in the near future to implement the concept of everydayness:


Laundry: I know that when you are the Duggars doing laundry everyday is a given. But when you only have a family of four it's usually not as urgent a task. Especially in our day when we have multiple outfits of clothes. However, telling a procrastinator that she doesn't have to do laundry everyday is not a good idea because I'm she's likely to put it off until the last pair of underwear have been worn. So I have been making every effort to do at least one load of laundry every day. Sometimes, if I am really caught up, I will take everything that is in every hamper in the house and do it all together but recently I've just been doing everyone's laundry in rotation. At most, all anyone will have out of their closet and needing to be washed will be three outfits because on the fourth day they will get their laundry done. And then one day a week I do a load of towels and sheets. Do things this way also alleviates a pile up in my rather miniscule laundry area.


Dishes: "Well of course," you say. "dishes get done every day!" But I ask you dishwasher owners out there...do you run it even if it isn't full? I'm not talking about if there is only one plate and a couple of glasses, of course don't run it then...but what if there are four plates, a dozen glasses and mugs, some bowls and silverware and maybe one pan? Wait or wash? I wash. Why? Because it takes a lot less time to unload a dishwasher like that than one that is fully packed. Thus allowing me more time to drink my coffee and blog in the morning.

Receipts: I don't keep a paper check registry anymore. In fact I haven't for years. Not since we purchased Quicken. And since I'm using less and less checks the debit receipts really pile up sometimes, because it doesn't seem worth my time to sit down and enter just one receipt. However, like laundry, telling a procrastinator she doesn't have to do something right away is like...like...well like the underwear analogy before. It gets put off. SO, if there have been ANY purchases at all on a particular day I have been trying to enter them. I also miss a lot less and keep better track of our spending this way. I haven't quite mastered this yet as I don't go out and spend money every day (not an everydayness I plan on taking up).

School Records: I don't talk a lot about our homeschooling but it is happening and I'm terrible about keeping up with grading and recording. It gets done...eventually, but it's usually one of the laundry pile moments (notice how everything relates back to the laundry?). Currently I'm working on wrapping up grading for this school year, but as I do so I'm trying to implement some new strategies for keeping up with this next school year. Among those is the concept of everydayness. Do it every day...grade that math, every day.

Devotions: This is an indispensible everydayness for me. It is when I can pour out my heart and renew my strength in my Lord. My time with Him allows for change in my attitude and in my heart. This in turn makes me a much nicer Mommy because I'm not relying solely on myself for patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control (to name just a few). They are fruits that come from His Holy Spirit.

These are just the areas where I am currently applying the everydayness concept in my life and in our home. They happen to be where it is currently most needed. I'm sure as time goes on and these things truly become every day habits I will see that there are other places where it can be applied. Everydayness works for me, maybe it will work for you too. (Especially with that laundry thing.)

For more great tips and ideas head over to Rocks In My Dryer.

Life At The Speed of Light

Today was Daughter's seventh birthday. As she smiles at me, one snaggly tooth, hanging on by a thread is all I can see.

Today Son wanted to know if he is taller than me. He is.

How is it that the baby boy I just brought home from the hospital is taller than I am? How is it that his Grandmother now mistakes him for Husband on the telephone?

How is it that the baby girl I just brought home from the hospital is missing teeth and amazes her Sunday School teachers with her reading ability?

When did this all happen?

It seems only yesterday I was wondering when I would ever be done with diapers, ear aches, sippy cups and Winnie-the-Pooh. Today I woke up and found myself explaining how to take care of acne and listening to sound effects from the latest video game.

I miss Winnie-the-Pooh. I miss sippy cups. Okay I don't miss diapers and ear aches all that much but I do miss chubby little fingers patting my cheeks and babies who fit in my lap.

I am proud to see them growing and learning and becoming outstanding people. I love the joie de vivre of Daughter and the dead pan humor of Son. I love watching her go out and take care of the chickens, plant a flower and run to her Daddy when he gets home. I love seeing him work out the next story line for a stop motion short and devour a good book in his tree fort. I can't wait to see where these interests lead and how God will use them for His glory.

I just have to savor it all. I have to take more pictures. I have to write down my memories before I can't remember.

Oh, that it would go just a little slower.

Happy Mother's Day!

A Christian mother's love contains

A gospel all its own,

Because the King of love has found

Her heart an ample throne.

~Crawford

Whom can find a virtuous wife?

For her worth is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband safely trusts her;

So she will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

~Proverbs 31:10-12

My Grandmother and Mother, virtuous wives and mothers.

Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many daughters have done well,

But you excel them all."

~Proverbs 31:28-29

My brother and sister and I in younger days, when Mom was doing her hardest work for us.

Thank you Mom, we rise up and call you blessed.

(By the way that's my son whom my sister is holding.)

Fiddling Around

So what do you think of my picture header?

I love vintage pictures...I love this picture....I'm just not sure it's me..ya know?

I'm open to your opinions, just please be kind. :)

And the color...is the color too much?

Maybe I ought to go back to the other....

Oh, can't decide...

Let me know what you think.

Where To Start

Heth over at From Under The Laundry Pile was mentioning that, when Spring finally bursts out in all its glory, she is hard pressed to stay inside and do inside house chores. I feel much the same way. The warm sun, the smell of rich, moist earth, are like a sirens song, strong and sweet, wooing me to them.



Yesterday I succumbed to that sweet song and began a project that I've been longing to get done since the day we moved into this house four years ago. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cool. I even have a tan line arm on my arms. (Note to self: wear sleeveless blouse next time!)



I'm not going to go into too much detail about the project. Basically I've been wanting to reclaim a planting bed from the over grown lawn. It involves digging up sod that's been there for who knows how long, judging from my aching muscles I'd say it's been a. long. while. On the flip side though, the sod is great for my newly established compost pile!



Anyway!....I digress...my point about all of this is that, even though I was enjoying myself outdoors and getting a lot done, I kept thinking about things like laundry, sweeping, vacuuming, dinner, messy bedrooms and dusting. (Not dishes though! I've managed to keep up with the dishes!)



I also kept thinking about all the little projects I need to get done around the house this summer like, painting, reorganizing cupboards, shampooing carpets, reorganizing Daughter's room and preparing for next school year.



Then my thoughts turned to all the projects that need to done on the outside of the house. Painting, building a chicken coop (yep, we changed our minds about that), gardening, stacking wood, etc., etc., etc. I should mention that I do not have to do all this alone, but as keeper of the home I do feel it is my duty to keep things moving along.



Oh where to begin, where to begin, where to begin?



How do I get it all done?



Can I get it all done?



I hadn't really prayed about all this except to send up a quick prayer asking the Lord how I was going to get it all done.



Then this morning I read Heth's blog and was encouraged that I'm not the only one who faces such conundrums.



Finally, the Lord spoke directly and specifically in my morning Bible reading:

Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

~Proverbs 24:27 (NIV)



That was pretty straight forward... and I was once again in awe of my Lord. He cares so deeply about every aspect of our lives. He cares that I need help in organizing my life and He is faithful to answer when I ask for help. I've probably read that passage more than once or twice in my life and thought nothing of it, but today it was specifically for me.



Wow.

***************************

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it." Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.

~Isaiah 30:21 (NKJV)