A Commitment to Beauty

I have a lot of things that are moving around in my head. There are so many areas that I am overly anxious to commit to learning and growing in experience. So many! I keep telling myself to pick one and get started, but I just have such a hard time deciding on which one is most important and relevant in my life right now. Well, after much thought I have chosen 2 3 to work on extensively this next month. This all intertwines with my Tapestry of Beauty thoughts and my 101 Things to do in 10001 days and of course they all wrap right around my holy calling of being a homemaker, mother and wife. I have decided to make a commitment to a few things every month that will make my home more beautiful and enviting, my family more at peace, our budget a little less maxed out and most importantly to glorify the Lord. I am so excited and pray that I will follow through with this idea. I don't like taking one step at a time when it comes to learning something new, I like to jump in with 2 feet, I don't like to walk, I like to run but in order to master something that I have little to no knowledge about it is absolutely neccessary to take it slow, to walk before I start running otherwise I am likely to burn out, become overwhelmed or get injured.

So in the month of October I really hope, but don't promise, that I will be researching, learning, experiementing and beautifying my life, my home and my family in these areas that I feel are of most importance and most relevant:

1. Sewing
2. Gardening
3. Grocery Shopping

The reason these are most important and most revelant will be examined further in the future. I have really HIGH hopes that I will be enabled to walk through this commitment to beauty and that the Lord will guide me with each step.

Sweet or Sour?

Definetly sweet but it looks like she just ate something sour. This is Butterfly's new face, isn't it just to cute! I can't believe that she is 6 months already, it is truly amazing how time just flies by. She is such a GOOD baby dispite some minor things like sleeping through the night. We are working on that right now. I have been diligent for the last few days and can already see some improvement, yes!

Here are some more random pics of my beautiful Butterfly:

Playing with the grass while watching Superman at soccer practice.

Smiling at daddy while we waited patiently for our food at TGIF...

Sunday morning bible class with Jill's cute Little Man by her side.

The Angry Mother

This morning while folding Butterfly’s clothes I found myself becoming increasingly irritated which isn’t new. I had a twitch in my left eye that was constantly nagging me but even more irritating was the sin that continually nagged me and attacked me through out the morning even at my twitch. Superman and I are going through a study on anger and I am so frustrated with how hypocritical I have been, I can only imagine him listening to me and thinking, if he knew and understood this phrase, “Live what you preach!”. Ashamed, I folded, humbled I folded. I admit that I have a continual battle with anger welling up inside of me and it is constant. I very quickly become overtaken by the irritation and it swells into harsh anger but what I find amazing is that I can contain it in public very easily. Sitting enclosed in my little bubble at home I find that I feel safe to explode on the ones that I love the most and know that even though they will “see” me they will still love me where as outside of my bubble they may not be as nice.


We have been looking at examples in the bible, Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, King Ahab and Naboth and even though I know that I would never kill anyone, bitterness and hatred does grow pretty rapidly if I don’t gain some control over it. And thinking on what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount I am reminded that I have already committed murder in my heart and then I am further reminded of my memory verse a few weeks ago: “Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life” and fear that I have not been guarding my heart from the sin of anger and it is obvious by my life. Today I thought "This is not who I want to be". I feel like Paul when he says in Romans 7:15-18 I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. The Lord is working on me and I just pray that He will reveal to me what it is that I need to do in order to be more focused on taming this sinful behavior.

Prayer Room Updates

Once again I stepped into my prayer room and braced myself for the possible pain that was to tug at my heart. First I checked on little Sean and I am glad to report that he seems to be doing well so far, praise God. I left him to see Hannah's family and was delighted to read that we can honor little Hannah with a Sparkly day on Friday... and was very encouraged by her ability to see the Sparkles through this difficult time. From there I very reluctantly clicked on Heather fearing the gut wrenching pain that could follow but instead found faith. She does need our prayers though as she steps into another week of chemo. Sweet baby Noah is at a new hospital with his momma and is under going a lot of tests so pray for him. There hasn't been any updates on Nicole and her son so just pray that all is well and that God will be near to them. Ethan needs some more prayers on some test results that are to come back and some praising on some that already came back showing NO leukemia in his bone marrow.

I am so blessed and honored to pray for each of these amazing persons. Would you take a moment to visit them or at least visit with our heavenly Father in their behalf. Thank you Lord for allowing us the amazing privilege to lift up the needs and desires of these people...

My Sweet and Silly Littles

My little T-Rex and Superman chilling in the backyard on a hot summer day.

A precious smile of Butterfly all dressed up before church on a glorious Sunday morning.


A rare moment of them all together smiling and looking at the camera.

I am one proud momma!! Enjoy your littles today!!

Before you begin...

Trina reminded me of a vital truth that is a must for each day...

"The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day." E.M. Bounds

A prayer we will meditate on this morning before we begin our walk into the day...

"Almighty God the Maker of every Thing in Heaven and Earth; the Darkness goes away, and the Day light comes at thy Command. Thou art good and doest good continually. I thank thee that thou hast taken such Care of me this Night, and that I am alive and well this Morning. Save me, O God, from Evil, all this day long, and let me love and serve thee forever, for the Sake of Jesus Christ thy Son. Amen." Famous American child's morning prayer. Isaac Watts

Good Morning

This is the day that Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

Rejoice and Praise God... it is a new day! Walk in the steps of JOY and gladness and have a heart of gratitude. Don't miss his blessings because you are to focused on other things. Live a Christ centered, Cross saturated day.

Impatience: Patience Drowning

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance. ~ Franklin P. Jones

Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength.

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

~*Purple Flower*~

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Don't Waste Your Life

We have a small group that meets on Sunday for encouragement through fellowship. In the beginning we just met and ate together which was satisfying but it was obvious that we needed something more, we needed direction and we yearned for more of Him in our conversation, now they didn't say that directly but my husband and I felt it and knew the Lord was leading us to something. We had been praying that God would show us what His will was for this group and He anwsered with Don't Waste Your Life, a book by John Piper at Desiring God. I can feel my soul coming alive as I read this book, it is powerful. Listen...

"Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain." pg 48

Last week my heart ached with the question: Do I get it? Do I truly get it? What Christ did? That He is the, as Piper says, blazing center of the Glory of God? Oh how I desire to. You know I am always so encouraged by Paul and his boldness and passion for living a life that was not wasted and I think... the cross was REAL to him. He understood the power of the cross and the pain and the grace that poured from it, do I? I feel so unconnected to it... sometimes like it is just a story... I want the realization of its magnificance to overtake my heart and mind and consume all my thoughts and my life.

"I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

(1 Corinthians 2:2)

"One of the reasons we are not as Christ centered and cross saturated as we should be is that we have not realized that everything-everything good, and everything bad that God turns for the good of his redeemed children-was purchased by the death of Christ for us. We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. " pg 51

I am filled with gratitude this morning... for the power of the Cross in my life. I pray that I am able to see past myself today, to boast only in the cross, and to remind myself that "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me", that when Christ died... I died as well.

Today...

Stop... listen... reflect... and... Worship... Walk... keep listening... keep reflecting... and continue to Worship....

Wordless Wednesday~Sweet Girl

Vist 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesdays.

Listen and Seek

For the next 12 weeks, journey with me and many other women as we Seek Him with Nancy Leigh DeMoss. The Lord answered my prayer of revival with this series... I need Him... you need Him and He is there waiting for us.... waiting for us to earnestly seek Him. Set aside a block of time each day to listen and seek...

Romans 2:6-8

For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Look what I did today:

My Bedroom Before....

My Bedroom After....

I don't know how our room becomes so overtaken with stuff but it does and it drives me nuts. I have not been able to get to it in the last week so today I made it my major project. My boys are both away for the week so I thought I would take advantage of that and totally tackle it. I wanted to quit so many times but reminded myself of the reward that would be recieved afterwards, mostly the peace that immediately follows. I am so amazed at the peace that flows from the room now. Iam now sitting in my clean and clutter free room about to read my bible and visit with my hubby before I watch a little Everybody Loves Raymond and then drift off into dream land for a few minutes before my Butterfly wakes up for her midnight snack :0).

My Littles

Superman, T-Rex, Butterfly and me

My sweet T-Rex and Superman

Butterfly peacefully sleeping while sucking her sweet thumb

Butterfly looking gorgeous as usual

Longings after God

My dear Lord, I can but tell Thee that Thou knowest I long for nothing but Thyself, nothing but holiness, nothing but union with Thy will. Thou hast given me these desires, and thou alone canst give me the thing desired. My soul longs for communion with Thee, for mortification of indwelling corruption, especially spiritual pride. How precious it is to have a tender sense and clear apprehension of the mystery of godliness, of true holiness! What a blessedness to be like Thee as much as it is possible for a creature to be like its creator! Lord, give me more of Thy likeness; enlarge my soul to contain fullness of holiness; engage me to live more for Thee. Help me to be less pleased with my spiritual experiences, and when I feel at ease after sweet communings, teach me it is far too little I know and do. Blessed Lord, let me climb up near to Thee, and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with Thee, and pant for deliverance from the body of sin, for my heart is wandering and lifeless, and my soul mourns to think it should ever lose sight of its beloved. Wrap my life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring Thee, always humble and resigned to Thy will, more fixed on Thyself, that I may be more fitted for doing and-suffering.

A Puritan's Prayer

Walking through a desert

I find myself spiritually dehydrated and weak. I just coast through each day and have no real desire to read the word, and that saddens me becasue I know that it is powerful for my life, that it is essential nutrients that my spirit needs in order to thrive. My branches are whithering. I could give a longd list of inadequate reasons as to why I don't dive into the word but the truth is I am just lazy and self centered. And somedays the thought goes through my mind "Why? Why do I need to read my bible daily.... I am doing just fine coasting..." Oh, have I in that moment missed the point, or what! Yes the bible shows me how to live this life but much more importantly it reveals the truths of God and His glory to me and to the world, it reveals Christ, my Rock, my Salvation, it reminds me of Grace and its sufficiency, it revives, it encourages, and the Spirit convicts my heart of the commands given in it to not just live or coast but to zealfully run this race as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 9, it contains the power of salvation... how dare I not abide in it! Not merely for my own sake but for the sake of those around me and for the glory of God himself. How am I to live out my purpose if I am not daily in the word? Can I truly enjoy God if I do not soak up His word? Can I glorify Him? These are some things that I need to think about more often instead of... oh well, I am doing fine right where I am, I don't need His word... And so I embark on a challenge to be in the word.

I have posted this challenge before but failed it miserably as you can tell. I am challenging myself to spend time in the word every morning for 30 days following this reading plan which I have begun before and made it quite far but feel the need to start over at the beginning. My goal is to rise and shine before the rest of my beautiful family and dive into the word and spend some quiet time with the Lord each morning for a good 30 minutes. I will begin this challenge Monday morning and persevere in it for 30 days and then repeat the challenge.

Memory Verse: Proverbs 4:23

Proverb 4:23

Above all else, guard your
heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

I am in a constant battle for the condition and state of my heart, we all are. Daily there is a brutal fight going on inside that often no one can see but that we can feel. Victories are won and sometimes lost. More victories will be won when the realization of how important our armor is as we stand guard. Standing naked and defenseless will find us devoured and conquered, put on your armor, grab your sword each day, put on your belt, your boots, your shield and your helmet and breastplate, they are essential in this daily war! Our hearts are the abundant source, the well, that our life draws from so let us examine what has been filling our hearts and let us make the neccessary changes for...

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Luke 6:25

Thanks again Sarah for the encouragement!

Quotes on Living our Life

"We are consecrated and dedicated to God; therefore, we may not hereafter think, speak, meditate, or do anything but with a view to His glory. We are God’s; to Him therefore, let us live and die."

John Calvin

"Go forth today, by the help of God's Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life----come poverty, come wealth, in death---come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord's. For this is written on your heart, 'We love Him because He first loved us.'"

Spurgeon, Charles