Serving a King

I loved the accountability I had last week during the Making Your Home a Haven challenge hosted my Monica. It reminded me of how HIGH, HOLY and CRUCIAL (as John Piper calls it) my calling is and how privileged I am to be serving Him here in my home. During the challange I was so motivated to serve consciously in every moment, now after it is over I am finding myself struggling to find my motivation again... kind of like a party when it is over and everyone has gone home. I am always really depressed and just kind of out of it and everyone just took my motivation with them when they left. When post my to do list I feel more accountably and motivation in a lot of ways. Sometimes it is hard for me personally to realize that I do not have a boss that watches over me and pushes me to get things done... although I do have a King... that I serve. A holy and righteous King that I am daily in the presence of and serving. My ultimate motivation should never come from crowd of onlookers or from works as if to accomplish something but of the One who deserves everything I have to offer, my life.

In order to keep me focused on this reality of being in the presence of a King I will be posting His royal to do list for His servant every week... hopefully unless it falls through (which is likely with me, sorry). I pray for perseverence and motivation as I long to give my whole heart in active, very active service to my Lord and Saviour.

Homekeeping and making...

*Clean the back yard from the invisible tornado that came through
*Stay up with at least one load of laundry a day, folded and put away!
*Follow my Home Management Schedule as closely as possible with out being to legalistic
*Have a nice family dinner every night with dessert
*Bake something

Child/habit training...

*Make chore charts to assist them in making their morning and evening chores a habit
*Make chore chart for table chores
*Make tokens for the rewards which will be time for extras: Rock Band, DS ect.
*Lots of encouragement with praise

Motherhood...
*100% consistency
*Grase Based
*Establish a "tea time" with boys and girl.

Homeschooling...

*From 9-12 give ALL of me to ALL of them (meaning no computer or other activities)
*Fill out progress report
*Go on daily nature walk
*Fill out Weekly Report

Family Liturgies...

*Treat them as sacred spaces of the day to focus our minds and hearts on Christ.

Personal...

*Read a chapter in The Mother in Law Dance
*Rise before thd sun to meet with the Son
*Abide in Him daily
*Find JOY

Other...

*Pack up the unused things in the bathroom and boys room
*Work on crafts
*Pack for Thanksgiving family trip

Family/Holiday Projects...
*Tepees
*Make Pilgrim book
*Read a lot of Thanksgiving books!

Father... may I give each day to your service... keep me busy... remind me to be conscious in joyful anticipation of Your return... give me peace in my moments of chaos... energy in my moments of exhaustion... allow me to have perspective when responding to my precious children and respect when speaking to my husband. I pray you will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus and reveal my priorities each blessed day you give me. May the gospel of Christ reign in each moment and may my hands be an extention of His grace and love to all those close to me... glory to You alone... in His holy name I pray...

JOYfully in Him,

Making my Home a Haven: Inviting and Giving

So this morning I found myself more reluctant than usual to get up. I ignored my alarm 3 times and then even after getting up out of my bed I just found another place to lay my head. After I finally got on my feet and got busy trying to catch up for the time I had lost I was very discouraged but the Lord had words to encourage me from our family Meditation time. He said...

Go to the ant, O sluggard (me);
consider her ways, and be wise.

How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
Proverbs 6:6,9

He knew exactly what I needed to hear this morning and I praise Him for speaking truth directly to my heart this morning and for speaking so personally to me His wayward sheep.

So after we meditated on His words... we went to the ant and we observed her ways so that we could become wise... and while we were observing her I was reminded of her in Proverbs 31 and her in Titus 2, again. Keeping my eyes and heart focused seems a great struggle these days. I am very grateful to Monica for challenging me to actively make my home a haven and today we are encouraged to make it inviting and giving so after I finish catching up I plan for our day to look something like this...

*Family Meditation and Dedication time
*Breakfast
*No school on Fridays
*Lunch (tell silly stories)
*Reading Time for Littles (Fun Poems)- missed
*Family Project (Thanksgiving activity)
*Rest-Bible Study and Prayer with Superman
*Bake something neighbor
*Spend some time planning an evening of fun with the neighborhood kids.
*After Rest and Bible Story/Snack time take time to Straighten up all rooms
*2 Loads of Laundry: washed, folded and put away!
*Dinner with neigborhood friends followed by some games and maybe a short devotional. Postponed until Monday night to give parents more warning and so they will be home to come :0)
*Lights out Reading time :0)

I plan on also planning a night to invite over some friends and make a gift from someone special. Today is my grandfather's birthday so I will be making a special call to encourage him today :0).

Side note: We only have so much time before we leave our home hear in Tx to make a new one in La. The next 6-7 week are going to be a rush of a lot of packing, visiting and emotions. There are so many people here that I am crying over leaving and I realize that some of them I will probably never see again in this life and even some I will not see in the next life either which breaks my heart beyond just tears. It is so hard to leave when you feel things are not finished but you know that they are as far as God using you in certain peoples lives. All I can do at this point is get on my knees and give them to the Father.

I pray your day is blessing on you, your family and those who surround you.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Update...

We had an awesome day! My home felt so clean and wholesome because of my constant motivation to stay busy serving my home, my family, my God. We made our table turkeys and they turned out cuter than I thought they would! I made Tiger Butter for our neighbor and since we didn't have the neighborhood kids over we invited over some good friends for dessert and coffee. We are excited. We are now about to eat some Homemade Pizza :0)

JOYfully in Him,

Making our Homes a Haven: Fun!

I never saw a Puple Cow;

I never Hope to See One;

But I can Tell, Anyhow,

I'd rather See than Be One.

The Puple Cow, Gelett Burgess

Today our focus in making our homes a haven is FUN. One of the biggest ways to spead fun through out our homes is to simply have a JOY-ful attitude in everything but also going out of our way to make time for little activities that are FUN. Sometimes, it requires a mess so get over it! I say this to myself because I weigh almost all activities by their level of mess, the less mess the more likely we are to engage in them but today I say "Get over it!". Have fun.

Today my list looks like this...

*Family Meditation and Dedication time

*Breakfast

*School from 9:00-12:00 (be devoted)

*Lunch (tell silly stories)

*Reading Time for Littles (Fun Poems)

*Family Project (Thanksgiving activity)

*Rest-Bible Study and Prayer with Superman

*Spend some fun alone time with Superman

*After Rest and Bible Story/Snack time take time to Straighten up all rooms

*2 Loads of Laundry: washed, folded and put away!

*Dinner by Candlelight

*Game Night!!

*Lights out Reading time :0)

Somewhere we will make a trip to Borders bookstore to let Superman spend his gift card from his birthday and possibly make a surprise stop at the nearest park. Today when handling any situations I am going to carry this verse with me...

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

And think upon this quote...

Joy is not the absence of suffering. It is the presence of God.

Robert Schuller

May JOY fill the air in our homes as we inhale and exhale His presence.

JOYfully in Him,

Making our Homes a Haven: Cared for

Today as I strive to stay focused and work diligently in making my home a haven I will be reflecting on Jesus words remembered my Peter in Luke 22:61 “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And when His words drift through my mind I will pass them to my heart and think of my sin and how many times I have denied Christ with it today. And like Peter weep bitterly for my unbelief. I pray that the Spirit will gently guide me with His words and encourage and focus my eyes to walk obediently and more faithfully today in my high and holy calling.

Today’s challenge in making our homes a haven is taking care of some little projects beyond tidying and cleaning up. I could think of a thousand of these but right now I want to focus on these specific projects:

Making a Praise and Thanksgiving Jar
Make our Thankful Tree for Thanksgiving (have boys help)
Make a picture cd to get developed
Organize Craft box
Make motivational chart for boys
Organize 3 Cabinets (bathroom, medicine & entertainment center)

These will fit in and between our day:

*Family Meditation and Dedication time
*Breakfast
*School from 9:00-12:00 (be devoted)
*Lunch
*Reading Time for Littles
*Family Project (Thanksgiving activity)
*Rest-Bible Study and Prayer with Superman
*Work on Craft box
*After Rest and Bible Story/Snack time take time to Straighten up all rooms
*2 Loads of Laundry: washed, folded and put away!
*Bath for church
**Something that I can not forget to do today: send a birthday card to my grandfather (my adopted father)

Tonight for dinner we will be eating Pizza, not the homemade kind. Our church provides it every Wednesday evening from CiCi's. Last night we were blessed by a friend who prepared dinner for us, pork roast. It was amazing.

JOYfully in Him,

Making Home a Haven: Clean Picture Update

Today was a very successful day in making my home a haven. I got a lot accomplished, everything on my list. I have been able with the gently nudging of the Spirit to be conscious in every moment and I have been reminded in the struggling moments of my verse from this morning and of staying awake in aticipation of His return. Here are the pics from today:

Family Meditation/Dedication...

Before Play room pictures...

And after...


Living Room Afters...

Boys Room Before...


Boys Room After...

Good Afternoon Baby Angel...

Laundry Time... 1st load...

2nd load...It was so tempting to leave them all so nicely folded in their baskets but I overcame...

JOYfully in Him,

Making our Homes a Haven: Cleaning

With homekeeping being my focus this week I thought I would share my daily/weekly cleaning schedule, the picture wouldn't work so here is the schedule...


Home Management Schedule:
Daily…

Morning
Swish and swipe bathroom
Make beds and put clothes away (where they go)
Clear sink
Light candles
Fold & Put away clothes

Evening
Vacuum, sweep & Mop
Shine Sink
Straighten House
Plan & Set up next school day
Wash Clothes

Weekly…

Morning
Playroom (Monday)
Bathroom (Tuesday)
Kitchen (Thursday)
Livingroom (Friday)

Evening
Hallway (Monday)
Boy’s Room (Tuesday)
Girl’s Room (Thursday)
Master Room (Friday)

Wednesday is a “Clean-Free” Day!!
Saturday is set aside for Outside & Window cleaning!!


I love it, it works for me and if I don't find the time to clean in the morning it is just added to the evening which is a little after 4:00, usually. And I love my Wednesday's being free :0). Monica is encouraging us to get busy and focus on Cleaning our home in our attempts to honor Him in Making our Homes a Haven, yesterday was Tidy Up(my update is coming). Today as I work diligently to balance being a teacher, mother and homekeeper I will find my strength from Christ who is my hope and my joy. It can becoming very overwhelming at times when I am being called to be all three at once and it is in those moments that I must focus on this idea of making my home a haven for my family.

This morning I had a brief moment of communion with the Lord before I drifted off to sleep on my couch. I woke praying again and then took some time to meditate on His word with a cup of coffee. The words that I will carry with me today are from Matthew 16:25 "Whoever loses his life for Me will find it"along with the thought of Elizabeth Elliot, "The only escape from self-love is self-surrender."

My list for today looks like this...

*Family Meditation and Dedication time
*School from 9:00-12:00 (Clean the Playroom when I find a chance)
*Lunch (Clean the Floor, moping and scrubbing)
*Reading Time for Littles ( Clean Living Room)
*Family Art
*Rest-Bible Study and Prayer with Superman
*Clean Bathroom
*After Rest and Bible Story/Snack time take time to Clean Boys room
*2 Loads of Laundry: washed, folded and put away!

For dinner we will have our favorite: Homemade Pizza with a Salad.

Something extra that I will hopefully have time to work on today is a Praise and Thanksgiving Jar for us to focus our heart each day.

JOYfully in Him,

Making Home a Haven

"Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.... Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?" Matthew 24:42,45

When I read this verse I reflect on my calling as a servant of God... wife, mother and homekeeper and how faithful and wise I am? I am serving Him in complete consciousness or just unconsciously all the while. Am I just going through the motions or is my whole heart in it, my hands are moving but what about my heart? is it following closely behind or is it no where to be seen? The Lord has called me to serve Him wholeheartedly with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength... and that can not be done unconsciously.

When speaking about the Lord coming back I don't think of serving in fear but more in anticipation and joy of His return! When He comes, like a thief in the night, will I be ready as the wife of His servant, the mother of His children and the keeper of His home? Each day that He so graciously gives me is another opportunity to prepare for His possible coming. Can you imagine your beloved being gone for years and you know that he could return at any moment, in your sincere love for him you would keep your heart and mind pure and your hands and feet busy at his unknown coming. This is how we, I think, should live in our callings as we wait for His unknown coming. We are the bride of Christ awaiting His arrival, hopefully soon.

Practically when I walk around my home thinking about what this means I turn to the Proverbs 31 example, the image of a woman who was conscious in her daily high and holy calling. She was the woman that Titus spoke of when he told the older women to train the younger women... we can read that text of scripture and then see an example of what God was talking about in Proberbs 31. She is our ultimate vision as women living out His calling on our lives and she is the vision of a woman who lives in joyful expectation of her Lord.

This week at The Homespun Heart, Monica is encouraging us in one area of our calling which greatly reflects on the other 2 of being a wife and mother... Making Our Home a Haven. (HT to my amazing and encouraging friend Amy, thanks!)

To me - it means being intentional about investing in my home. The actual dwelling, those who live there, time together, and of course, others who will enter. Being focused on God in light of our responsibilities at home creates a precious view of our homes and our families.

Monica's personal reflection on what haven means to her above encouraged me to think about what it means to me. For me it is simply the dwelling place of our heart, a place where Christ is alive, where His peace reigns and provides shelter from the world that surrounds us, it is the place of launching His righteousness through our lives and children, it is the place where we are not only loved but loved, accepted and embraced even in our quirky-ness and where His grace is supreme. Making our home a haven means being conscious, staying awake in this highest and holliest calling of being a keeper of His home! A home is not always these things, but a haven is. A home is often fleed by its dwellers, a haven is the place we flee to. A home is not always safe, secure and sacred but a haven is... a haven of His righteousness always is. That is why our homes are not only havens for the indwellers but also the passerbys and daily visitors as some of them will flee their homes to dwell under the refuge of His righteousness found in the haven's we consciously labor in love for our family but mostly for our Lord.

This week I am going to be focusing on being a home keeper for the Lord... seeking Him in this calling... devoting myself to ways to improve and enhance my home keeper duties. Being a home keeper is not all about just keeping our homes clean, there is much more involved.

Today's challenge is to Tidy Up!!

(I will update tonight hopefully with pics)

JOYfully in Him,

Be obedient

Romans 1:1-5 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake.

Every other Sunday we are hosting a small group at our house directly following church, where we come together for fellowship over a good meal and then dwell in the word together in good discussion lead by my husband. This last Sunday was our reunion from a winter break, we came together ready to dive into His word through the words of Paul in Romans. We walked slowly through the first chapter soaking up so many awesome truths, some that seemed unreachable for our limited minds, some that were encouraging and others that were difficult to hear, grasp and swallow that convicted our hearts in our walk with Him and that prayerfully will coninue with us through out the days, weeks and months to come constantly revealing to our stubborn hearts and ways more of His direction for our lives, things of grace, righteousness, faith and obedience.

My husband shared something that he fournd to be deeply encouraging in his faith through his own personal study of the tex and one that has now found its way into my heart and that I can not seem to leave. The obedience of faith... what does this mean? Profoundly a lot more than you think.


Whatever we do should be done out of obedience of faith which means that our lives our every decision is not based on our own personal desires but rather on the basis of our faith, and it is done for His names sake... nothing more! When we are making a decision today think... "Is this in obedience of faith?" Something that is amazing about this text is the power of grace that enables us to have this obedience. The relationship is profound this morning to me. Don't rely on your own power today, it will run dry and proove to be superficial and weak, but relyon THE power, the power of GRACE and your faith will be strengthened and victorious as you live in obedience of it. So when you bake bread today... do it in faith. When you vacuum... do it in faith. When you do the laundry, clean the bathroom, play with your children, discipline and train them, speak to your husband... do it all in faith. Examine yourself as you walk through this day, for His names sake, don't just simply walk, for your names sake.

Be encouraged... what you are doing every day though it may seem mundane, pointless and unimportant at times it is profoundly not, what you are doing is walking daily in His grace, His power, that He has given specifically to you for your specific calling, He has enabled you to do what you do each day and I believe we have a wonderful way to bring Him honor through our calling. May each step we take today be in obedience of the faith.... which is only possible because of the GRACE He has supplied us with...

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Rationally Complaining?

I did 4 loads of laundry today and put one of them away! Woo hoo for me. There is a basket of folded socks and hanging clothes on the couch, a basket on the floor under it with t-shirts, a blob of clean boy shirst, pjs and socks on the dryer, some clean shirts and pants in their room on the floor (where it can't be seen of course or tripped over) and sitting in the dryer is Butterfly's bedding. I am still playing catch up from our trip. While in my room I was thinking well, the clothes are clean... and I grabbed an assumed dirty shirt of Expresso's off the bed to toss in the dirty hamper only to find it grossly overflowing... sigh. I wonder where oh where do all of these hideous clothes come from... not my house. I can hear the comment now, "Do I have any clean jeans?". Will it ever stop? Will I ever catch up? I want to rip through everyone's drawers pulling out all of the items that are cluttering up and causing havic in my laundry room/kitchen. Really, do we really "need" all of these clothes?

Do you ever do that? Just complain until you have found some rationality. I write a lot of invisible post like these only to delete them or have them sit in "drafts". I decided to allow this one to pass through the gates of publish. I am sitting at my kitchen table with my bible opened to Genesis 6. I wasn't going to blog right now... how I started I can't really tell you my fingers just started dancing.

Meandering and Menu Monday 2

Daily Quiet Time:

To continue to get up at 5:00 each morning... read His word, pray and worship.

Priorities:

I must begin the main preperations for Superman's party... envitations, cake, food, ect.

Make a list of people to work in nursery for the rest of this month and next!

Go shopping for nursery items.

I must call my loan people

Household Cleaning and Routines:

Continue with my room cleaning routine but also adding this week a de-cluttering block. Each day I have a room set out to be de-cluttered. Also this week... the boys will be required to help me and not just play.

Diligently Teaching and Training:

Okay, continue the tomato staking, keeping them close. I want to be more of an encouragment to them during school this week and commit more focused time to each second of it. Read aloud more often just enjoying good books together. Really reflect a lot on our memory verse this week and on many other verses that we all need to speak to our hearts and pray often together constantly relying on Him to guide us through each day.

Menu Planning:

I really would like to allow my Littles to join me in each meal preperation.

Monday: Red Beans and Rice with Cornbread

Tuesday: Pizza with Salad

Wednesday: Salmon Croquettes, Corn on cob and Potatoes

Thursday: Potato and Corn Chowder

Friday: Spaghetti with homemade sauce and breadsticks

Thanks Tiany and Laura for hosting these!!

Meandering and Menu Monday

Tiany, an amazing encourager to all woman in their holy callings has a wonderful weekly accountability meme (or whatever those things are called!). I have seen the little lady hanging her clothes on her clothes line for several weeks now and have had it on my mind to do. Visit Less of Me, More of Him to find out more.

Here are the 5 areas:

1. Bible Study/Devotions
2. Must Do's
3. Zone/Cleaning
4. Train Them Up
5. Menu Planning

Here are my personal goals in each one:

1. Bible Study/Devotions

This week I am going to be working on getting to know my King in a much deeper and more intimate relationship as I devote each morning to Him. This means getting up early. 5:00 to be exact. Here are more of the details:

Pray over His word, dive in His word, worship and praise Him with music, reflect on memory verse for the week and any other verses.

My bible reading is loosely based on this reading plan but I am not bound to it. I am trying to catch up to where I should be but am not going to do it at the expense of making my reading time a duty instead of a delight. Know what I mean?

Each evening instead of turing on the tv, the computer or my mouth :0) I am going to be in the word some more to reflect on some more of His wisdom and read from my current book by Nancy Leigh Demoss, A Place of Quiet Rest. (GREAT book so far!!)


2. "Must Do's"

Let's see here...

1. Call for insurance for Superman and T-Rex
2. Call, again, to put my loan from college on hold
3. Look over budget to see where some changes can be made
4. Send care package to family member
5. Write 2 letters to friends/family
6. Call a friend or person in need... to encourage
7. Make a nursery list of workers for this month and then make calls to them
8. Make a price book
9. Enjoy my family and relax in the love of the Lord...

3. Zone/Cleaning

Okay this week I am really just going to be working on being disciplined in my cleaning routine. I feel like I say this way to many times! I am back to room cleaning... task cleaning just didn't work for me. Here is my schedule:

Monday: Kitchen
Tuesday: Bathroom
Wednesday: Bedrooms
Thursday: Livingroom
Friday: Playroom
Saturday: Outside/Cars

4. Train them Up

I have posted on my fridge right now Wise Words for Mom and a Behavior Chart. This week I am going to be loosely Tomato Staking and watching my boys very closely as they go through each day and will be taking notes, litterally. I have a piece of paper on my table to jot down their behaviors through out each day putting a + or - next to the description so that I can evaluate it at the end of the week. I am praying that this will allow me to "see" a little more clearly the sin that is in their hearts and that God wants me to replace with His words of wisdom. Spanking will be few and there will be a lot more training rather than discipline.

Something else I want to do this week is to have them repeat a certain verse that pertains to the sin that is causing their bad behavior at the very moment of it's appearance.

5. Menu Planning




Monday: Chicken and Rice with Peas
Tuesday: Out to eat and felloship with friends
Wednesday: Black Bean soup with Cornbread
Thursday: Brocolli Spaghetti with homemade bread
Friday: Baked Potato and Brocolli with rolls

This week I am really going to try and be healthy. For snacks we will have homemade breads, granola, peanuts, fruit, cut veges, yogurt, smoothies and water will be our main drink. I am hoping to get to Central Market to buy some wheat to make bread with, mmm but don't know if that is going to happen or not.

None of this above is going to be possible with out God and so it is vital that I stay focused on His will for my life and to take joy in it, to take each moment and use it for His glory. Have a great day.

Food is Consuming our Money!

A closer look at our current food spending has me convicted to make some changes. Let me first share an example of our 1 week grocery spending with you:

Milk 3.50

Eggs (18) 2.38

Yogurt 1.98 (2)

Cool Whip 1.87

Sour Cream 1.18

Carrots 1.68

Hamburger Meat 2.13 (2)

Chicken 6.97

Lettuc 1.50

Cheese 5.96

Turkey 3.58

Bacon 2.63

Pinapple .94

applesauce 1.96

Bannanas .75

Celery 1.34

Bell Pepper .78 (2)

Tomato .73

Cucumbers .74

Corn 1.32

Apples 1.89

Onion .79

Tortillas 1.48

Miracle Whip 3.64 last the month

Creamer 1.48

Peanunt Butter 2.64

Salso 2.08

Cornbread Mix .56

SS Morsel 4.46

Syrup 1.56

Quick Oats 2.98

Veg Oil 1.88

Pam Spray 2.44

Pinto Beans .56

Pumpkin 1.13

Kernal Corn .66

Peach Tea 1.76

Canned Fruit .78 (4)

Tomato Sauce .32

Cream Chicken .98 (2)

Enchilada Sauce .96

Graham Crackers 1.18

Vanilla .98

Fruit Snacks 3.74

Flour 1.74

Potatoes 2.98

Sugar 1.68

Chips 2.50

Mac cheese .60

Baby Food .98 (7)

This is roughly a little over 100 dollars a week. Weekly my reciept is usually 115-125 which for me is HIGH and I am moving to LOWER it, how low? As LOW as I can GO. We are a family of 5, 3 of us being boys that can eat all day long!

Something that I have heard is a good thing to do and have wanted to do for quite some time now is a price book. I simply have not done this because I am lazy. I am going to start a price book as soon as I collect all of the information on exactly how to. It is going to take some extra energy and time on my part but I know that it is going to pay off in the end.

A few months ago I began making my own detergent and house cleaning products and made a significant difference in our budget. It only makes sense to begin to do the same in some areas of my food preperation as well. Baby food, bread, certain mixes and other items. I have done these but am very inconsistent and not reliable at all. I have hopes to commit to a day and time to spend on making these for each week, I know that it is going to be a huge challenge for me just because it will take discipline... something I don't have much of.

I know that there are many other things that I can work on but for now this is it. I know better than to overload myself with to much... walk... don't run. Oh how I want to run and jump right in!

Having any thoughts that you would like to share with me? Please leave it in my comments, I am SO open for suggestions and advice.

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.

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).

Tapestry of Beauty

I have a desire to Glorify the Lord in my calling as a homemaker. Tapestry of Beauty is my definition of my desire in this area of my calling. It is based on the title of a book called God’s Beautiful Woman by Elizabeth George and its foundation is from the Virtuous Woman and her model. Proverbs 31:22 “She makes herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.” My home, this Little Place, is where my heart lies and is where I find my delight and my complete contentment. It is a place of peace and a refuge from the world. Lately the Lord has been stirring my hearts desires to have fruitful hands in the creative way of pouring my love into my family and home. This little place is an expression of me and my family in every corner and crack. The couch, hallway (as small as it may be), kitchen, laundry corner :0), bookshelves, armoire, coffee table, rugs, curtains, dinning room, bedroom, kids rooms and all of those who dwell inside will speak to those who enter of who we are and I desire to be apart of the making of many of those, adding the work of my hands to them, with a touch here and there of creativity for the Lord. I also want my home to radiate a love for Christ and His glory in a way that it can not be missed. My heart is here in this Little Place and instead of only allowing a few faucets to drip my love onto and into it I want them to pour out with passion and diligence! This is my mission for my Little Place……….to make a Tapestry of Beauty. Join me while I learn how to do this and feel free to give any of your insight and suggestions….they are welcomed with extreme delight!

I wrote this a year ago as a discription for a blog I started over at Homestead Blogger. A year ago and my heart is still in the same place beating with passion for my Little Place called Home. I have such a desire to be a more fruitful and joyful homemaker. Since Baby Girl is only 4 weeks old and life around here is still running a little on the crazy side my attempts to more fruitful will be slow going but the thoughts in my head are rushing out constantly and I can’t turn them off. I hope to begin soon and can not wait to share my journey! Tell me do you desire to be a more fruitful homemaker? This includes being more organized, frugal, joyful and productive not in just ordinary ways but in creative ways as well. I will begin next week with trying out homemade cleaning solutions and recipes. I encourage you to join me in this exciting journey… a journey to bless our families and our Lord with the works of our hands from the overflowing of our hearts.

Make your bed...

Last night I journeyed with the Apostles in their ministry in the book of Acts and was completely captivated by their dedication, their zeal and their boldness in spreading Christ. It was very encouraging to listen to what they went through and what they were willing to go through and just to see their many struggles and see the Lord shine through each of them.
As I was reading I came across Peter’s journey to Lydda where he found a man named Aeneas. Aeneas was bedridden for eight long years and paralyzed. My heart could in a very small way relate to being bedridden. Peter said to him “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” How truly amazing it must have been for this man to beable to get up out of that bed and then for the first time in years get to pull the covers up over the bed with out him in it.
It is interesting for me to read this last night as I have been put on a very short term bedrest due to some little complications with my pregnancy. I have really been struggling with embracing this and have been depressed about it. In the beginning I was a little relieved……no housework or cooking and my Mother’s Day Out job was now off limits…..Praise God! But then after a week or two of being confined to my bed I realized how much I missed taking care of my family. It has now been a little over a month and the Lord has revealed to me many things through this time. My husband and I have in some ways switched places. He has really done an amazing job and I am so proud of him and extremely grateful for the man God gave me. I think it is truly awesome to know that when this is all over we both will have grown from it and will beable to appreciate each other a little more. I know that as a homekeeper I will be making some improvements in my attitude towards my duties and my husband.

I never really thought I could honestly say this but “I miss doing the laundry…..washing the dishes…..cooking…..giving my boys their baths…..picking up dirty socks and making beds!” It is hard to watch someone else do your job especially when you have your own specific ways of doing things. When Peter tells Aeneas to make his bed…….something that I think we all take for granted being able to do, symbolizing for me all the little things……my own heart rejoices with him at the ability of being able to do this “chore”. I can not wait to beable to do all the little things that bless my home and my family.

Ladies…..think about your little things…..do you realize how privileged you are to beable to do these things for your family? Do they bring a joy to you when they are done and when you know that your hard work is developing a beautiful, peaceful and safe refuge for your precious family?